🚨 Man Utd star says YES to exit, potential striker signing for Red Devils, Newcastle NOT out of Kalvin Phillips race just yet, Chelsea wonderkid links, likely Arsenal sale, and more
Today's round-up of the biggest football headlines, featuring Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea and much more!
Good morning everyone and welcome to the latest edition of the Daily Briefing. Thanks as always for reading, and hope you enjoy! :-)
Today’s top stories:
Plus more from Chelsea, Liverpool and Real Madrid
AC Milan
AC Milan are advancing in talks to sign Hellas Verona talent Filippo Terracciano after positive meeting with his agent today. Five year contract offered, player keen on the move — club to club talks continue to get the deal done.
AC Milan talents shining tonight in Coppa Italia as 2005 born CB Jan-Carlo Simic keeps performing at important level. Told Milan have prepared a new contract proposal as current deal expires in 2025.
Arsenal
What’s the latest on Ivan Toney’s future and could he really cost as much as £100m to sign this January? Some good analysis of the situation in the video above. [Pictures from Sky Sports News]
Mohamed Elneny could be close to leaving Arsenal, with plenty of interest in the Egyptian midfielder - latest info here from Fabrizio Romano.
Atalanta
Atalanta have sent a formal bid to Birmingham City for Jordan James, talks are now advancing between the two clubs. Initial fee will be around €4/4.5m plus add-ons. The Welsh midfielder born in 2004 has agreed on personal terms
Barcelona
Girona manager Michel on Aleix Garcia and Barcelona interest: “I feel that Aleix won’t leave us. Honestly I’d hurt if Aleix left. I don’t say that because of Barca, but just because we’d lose a key player for us. But again, I feel he’s staying.”
Bayern Munich
Benfica
Benfica are closing in on deal to sign Brazilian striker Marcos Leonardo from Santos. Benfica submitted a formal bid in the last few hours, as revealed by new Santos president tonight. Deal being sealed for €18m - and structure of the add-ons will be the final step. Here we go soon…he’ll be a Benfica player in the next 24 hours.
Birmingham City
Birmingham City have now fired Wayne Rooney with immediate effect, it has been officially announced. Rooney failed to win 13 of 15 games in charge. “Unfortunately, Wayne’s time with us did not go as planned and we have decided to move in a different direction,” a club statement said.
Borussia Dortmund
Jadon Sancho has given the green light to return to Borussia Dortmund on loan - more info from Fabrizio Romano here.
Donyell Malen could leave Dortmund as part of the domino effect of Sancho’s signing - further details in Fabrizio Romano’s column here.
Brighton
A good double save here kept Brighton out - were they unlucky not to come away with the win here? FT West Ham 0-0 Brighton [Pictures from Sky Sports]
Jeremy Sarmiento is set to leave Brighton on loan again after being recalled from West Brom. An agreement is close with Ipswich Town for Sarmiento to join them on loan until the end of the season. Final details and then the deal will be done.
Chelsea
Chelsea have been linked with David Odogu, but how likely is a deal?
George Gardi denies statement on Hakim Ziyech’s imminent January exit from Galatasaray reported by Turkish sources. Responding to the stories, he said: “I never made any statement on Ziyech.”
Chelsea talent Alex Matos on the verge of joining Huddersfield Town on loan deal, no option to buy included. He’ll have his medical at Huddersfield today. Chelsea have also recalled Zak Sturge from his loan at Peterborough due to limited game time.
Frosinone
Serie A side Frosinone are set to sign French winger Fares Ghedjemis from FC Rouen in a €300k deal. The agreement will also include sell-on clause for the French club. Official soon.
Galatasaray
George Gardi denies statement on Hakim Ziyech’s imminent January exit from Galatasaray reported by Turkish sources. Responding to the stories, he said: “I never made any statement on Ziyech.”
Girona
Girona manager Michel on Aleix Garcia and Barcelona interest: “I feel that Aleix won’t leave us. Honestly I’d hurt if Aleix left. I don’t say that because of Barca, but just because we’d lose a key player for us. But again, I feel he’s staying.”
Inter Milan
Tajon Buchanan to Inter, here we go! A deal is in place with Club Brugge on €7m fixed fee plus add-ons. Personal terms were agreed weeks ago and he’s set to travel to Milano on Wednesday for medical tests on Thursday. Agreement completed, set to be sealed.
Juventus
Liverpool
Mohamed Salah on winning the Premier League: “We believe too much. We have top talents. They just need to work hard. Going to AFCON? I want to win it! I love playing for my country. Without me they will be fine. We have fantastic players.”
Liverpool are being linked again with Manu Kone following interest in the summer.
Manchester City
Kalvin Phillips won’t leave Man City on the cheap this January, and who’s leading the race out of PSG, Newcastle and Juventus?
Manchester United
Jadon Sancho has given the green light to return to Borussia Dortmund on loan - more info from Fabrizio Romano here.
Manchester United have activated a break clause for Sergio Reguilon, who will now end his loan spell early and return to Tottenham. Mutual decision made between all parties as Reguilon wants to play and there’s no more space at United. The player side was informed by United yesterday.
Sergio Reguilon has options in the Premier League and Bundesliga - more details from Fabrizio Romano here.
Could this striker signing on loan be one to watch for Man Utd?
Monaco
AS Monaco and West Ham are finalising the deal for Thilo Kehrer. It will be a loan deal with a mandatory buy option clause in case of specific targets. Monaco will pay a €500k loan fee. There are still details to clarify in order to get the deal done and sealed soon.
Olympiacos and AS Monaco have just signed paperwork for Gelson Martins to move on a permanent deal. Monaco will receive €3m fixed fee and will also keep a 10% sell-on clause.
Napoli
Napoli will sign a new centre back — and Sparta Praha’s talent Martin Vitik (born 2003) remains one of the options being considered. Napoli asked for Radu Dragusin last week but Tottenham are advancing to get deal done as revealed last week.
Pasquale Mazzocchi will undergo tests as new Napoli player tomorrow, joining in a deal worth more than €3m. Alessandro Zanoli will join Genoa on loan from Napoli, as expected.
Newcastle United
PSG
Corinthians president Augusto Melo: “I can confirm we have sold Gabriel Moscardo to Paris Saint-Germain, the deal is done. Moscardo will undergo surgery and then join PSG in July.” Moscardo will sign the contract on Thursday, as revealed today.
Are PSG really leading the race for this Man City midfielder?
Luis Enrique on how he’s going to manage the Kylian Mbappe situation as he’s free to sign with any club now: “I will continue to do what I have done until today with Kylian.”
Carlo Ancelotti when asked about Kylian Mbappe now being free to sign with any club: “I’m not gonna comment about this topic. No comment, you should know we don’t speak about it.”
Warren Zaire-Emery agreed on new deal at Paris Saint-Germain back in November. Documents have been ready since early December. New contract could be formally sealed and announced when WZE will turn 18 in March but there are zero doubts. It’s all done, agreed - 100%.
EXCL: Man Utd star gives green light to exit, plenty of interest in Arsenal midfielder, Real Madrid working on CB market, and more
Real Madrid
Carlo Ancelotti on potential signings in defence: “We are NOT thinking about signing a new centre back in this moment. We have Nacho and Rudiger as CBs. Also, we have Tchouameni and Carvajal — both can play as centre backs.”
Real Madrid could instead sign a new young centre-back in the summer, says Fabrizio Romano.
Ancelotti when asked about Kylian Mbappe now being free to sign with any club: “I’m not gonna comment about this topic. No comment, you should know we don’t speak about it.”
Ancelotti on the Brazil job: “I love Real Madrid and I want to stay here. I could stay here also after being the manager. I had contacts with Brazil, for sure — but it was all in stand-by as I was always waiting for Real Madrid. I’m happy to stay here.”
Toni Kroos, Nacho and Luka Modric are currently out of contract in June 2024. Discussing their futures, Ancelotti said: “They can decide what they want to do. It’s up to them... we let them decide. The future is already on the right way with many talents and Endrick coming soon too.”
Tottenham
Negotiations are underway between Tottenham and Genoa for Radu Dragusin after the agreement on personal terms with the Romanian defender. Spurs are confident to advance as contacts continue on a daily basis. No changes on the Jean-Clair Todibo deal, which has almost collapsed.
Sergio Reguilon is expected to leave Spurs again during the January transfer window as he wants to play regularly. Loan options are being considered; there’s interest from Premier League clubs, while Borussia Dortmund added him to their list in December. The race remains open.
Pape Sarr new deal at Spurs valid until June 2030 has been announced. It’s all done - one more key extension for the club after Destiny Udogie.
Tottenham U21 talent Jude Soonsup-Bell could leave the club on loan in January as he’s attracting interest from Championship and League One clubs. Soonsup-Bell has had a great start to the season with 12 games, 9 goals and 5 assists so far.
West Ham United
HOW did Tomas Soucek miss this close-range chance? FT West Ham 0-0 Brighton [Pictures from Sky Sports]
AS Monaco and West Ham are finalising the deal for Thilo Kehrer. It will be a loan deal with a mandatory buy option clause in case of specific targets. Monaco will pay a €500k loan fee. There are still details to clarify in order to get the deal done and sealed soon.
Zenit Saint Petersburg
Zenit Saint Petersburg are closing in on a deal to sign Brazilian centre-back Nino from Fluminense for a €5m fee, almost sealed. Nino was close to joining Nottingham Forest in December but he’s on his way to Zenit now.