🚨 Ballon d'Or reaction, Arsenal LIKE £65m star, Chelsea star drops hint over his future, latest on Ten Hag's Man Utd position, and more

Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Daily Briefing - thanks as always for reading and hope you enjoy today’s round-up!

Today’s top stories:

• Arsenal to replace Nketiah with this striker?

• No progress on Chelsea star’s new contract

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• Plus more on Man City, Barcelona and Real Madrid

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Ajax

• John van’t Schip has signed a deal to become the new Ajax interim manager until the 30th of June, 2024.

Arsenal

• Is Eddie Nketiah a possible player heading out of Arsenal?

• Could Ivan Toney be heading for a move to the Emirates Stadium? Full details here.

• Ben White has still not agreed a new contract - latest info here.

Ballon d’Or

• No surprises as Lionel Messi wins the award for the 8th time!

• Messi: “This award comes hand in hand with what has been achieved with the Argentina team. This is a gift to the players, coaching staff and the all people in Argentina.”

• Messi: “Haaland and Mbappe will win the Ballon d’Or one day. Erling deserved it very much too, he has won Premier League, Champions League while being the top scorer of everything. This award could have been yours today too…I’m sure in the next years you will win it.”

Barcelona

• Barcelona have been linked with a PSG contract rebel - more info here.

• Messi: “Of course I follow Barça. It’s the club that I love and will love all my life. They have a great team. They’re ready to be able to fight for this Champions League. I have no doubt that they are a candidate. They just need not to much pressure.”

Bayern Munich

• Thomas Muller is currently out of contract in June 24. Bayern director Christoph Freund: “He is a very important part of the team. We will have talks over the next few weeks, but it also depends on Thomas’ future planning.”

• More on Muller’s future here.

• Bayern Munich CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen on Jamal Musiala: “I’d really love to keep him for life. Jamal is already a top football player today. We’d would do well to keep him with us for as long as possible, that’s our plan.”

Brentford

• What’s Brentford’s likely asking price for Ivan Toney? More info here.

Chelsea

• Conor Gallagher has been linked with Spurs, but what’s the latest? More info here.

• Is Victor Osimhen a realistic target for Chelsea?

• Nico Gonzalez has also been linked with Chelsea but what’s his situation?

• Thiago Silva on life under Mauricio Pochettino: “We have new manager — we need time to improve. Under Poch we train stronger, we run more.”

• Silva on his future: “The end of my career is getting closer… it’s not easy. You’ve to think about when you want to retire, where do you go as final club, the family, my kids play at Chelsea…I’m just focused on enjoying my final year of contract at Chelsea. I don’t know what’s gonna happen next year but I’m very happy of my career.”

Eintracht Frankfurt

• Hugo Larsson is attracting interest, so what next for the youngster? More info here.

Juventus

• Nicolo Fagioli is set to sign new deal at Juventus with an improved salary valid until June 2028. Club showing support to Italian midfielder as he was out of contract in three years. Fagioli has recently been banned for seven months due to gambling scandal in Italy.

Leicester City

• Danny Drinkwater has announced his retirement from football at the age of 33. The former Leicester City midfielder was part of that remarkable 2015/16 Premier League title-winning side, and was also an FA Cup winner with Chelsea.

Manchester City

• Pep Guardiola when asked on Man City success: “We are in the same direction... Me, the CEO, also the sporting directors, the chairman. That is why I think the club is so stable.”

• “We are so proud of you... and you deserve much more,” Erling Haaland’s agent Rafaela Pimenta on the Ballon d’Or.

Manchester United

• What’s the latest on Erik ten Hag’s job safety?

• Erik ten Hag when asked on selecting Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans while Raphael Varane was benched: “Tactics. I decided for Evans as starter and Varane benched for tactics, yes. Exactly.”

• Ten Hag on losing to City: “The three games before, we won and the spirit is very good. Fighting spirit is very good, so I think we are on the way up. The start was difficult but we are on the way up.”

• Sofyan Amrabat was subbed off at half time against City - more on that here.

Real Madrid

• Jude Bellingham won the Kopa award last night and received a lovely message from his old teammate Jamal Musiala: “Not long ago we were roommates in England! Now you are playing for Real Madrid, and I’m playing for Bayern.”

• Bellingham: “It’s World Cup year and Lionel Messi had a fantastic World Cup, he deserves to win the Ballon d’Or. I want to thank everyone who supported me in my journey. From Birmingham, to Dortmund, now to Real Madrid. There is more to come.”

Tottenham

• Tottenham are monitoring this goal machine who’s also been linked with Real Madrid.

• Conor Gallagher has been linked with Spurs, but what’s the latest? More info here.

• Dejan Kulusevski: “Postecoglou, excellent manager. He speaks about life stories, not just football. It was clear already in pre-season, training sessions under Ange are funny and we work a lot with the ball, we press a lot. But also, we learn from him. We’re really enjoying.”

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