🚨 Boey says YES, Maddison RETURNS, Nkunku's BOOST, Arsenal's new MD, Vermeeren to Atléti almost done, Klopp's Salah RANT and more
Today's headlines, featuring Liverpool, Chelsea, Man Utd and much more!
Good morning folks and welcome to the latest Daily Briefing - thanks for reading, and enjoy! :-)
Today’s top stories:
Granada waiting for green light on deal for Man United’s Pellestri
Plus Guardiola’s scathing Man United put down, Thiago Silva’s contract & more
Al Ettifaq
Al Ettifaq are closing in on a deal to sign Álvaro Medrán from Al Taawoun. More than three Saudi clubs asked for Medrán after his excellent performances at Al Taawoun but Al Ettifaq lead the race. Steven Gerrard wants him asap.
Al Ittihad
Al Ittihad have sent a verbal proposal to Juventus for Matias Soulé around €30m. Meeting took place in Dubai last week. Final decision on the player side will be communicated in the next days — but the current plan remains to stay at Frosinone.
Arsenal
Arsenal and Tottenham to battle for £70m-rated 16-goal Bundesliga ace [Fichajes]
Director of Football Operations Richard Garlick will take the role of Arsenal’s Managing Director in summer 2024, club confirms.
Aston Villa
Jhon Durán, now injured and not available for the next few weeks. “In the last action against Everton he was injured, and for the next weeks he’s not going to be available,” Unai Emery said. Chelsea never sent any formal or verbal bid as they just discussed Durán internally.
Atlético Madrid
Arthur Vermeeren with his lawyer and his girlfriend in Madrid to complete details of his move to Atléti [pictures from @david_vdb].
Atlético Madrid have booked medical tests for Arthur Vermeeren which will be conducted later this morning. Here we go coming soon.
There’s still no final green light for Moise Kean to travel and complete his loan move to Atlético Madrid. €500k loan fee accepted days ago but still no approval from Atléti as Ángel Correa exit is not agreed yet. Final decision on Kean to be made soon.
Simeone: “My instincts tell me that Ángel Correa is going to stay at Atlético Madrid.” His move to Al Ittihad is difficult due to huge differences in the negotiations between clubs.
Çağlar Söyüncü to Fenerbahçe, here we go! Verbal agreement reached with Atlético Madrid on a loan move. There’s no buy option clause included in current agreement. Documents to be checked and then it will be sealed.
Barcelona
Xavi: "Trust me, Barcelona have a very good future and I'm not talking about myself. I'm talking about the youngsters. That's why I'm playing them, I really want them to be ready for the future. It's not about me being the manager or not. These guys are special… Vitor Roque is very young, but we wanted to play Marc Guiu. Both of them will be alternating.”
Lamine Yamal is priceless to FC Barcelona [Football Espana]
Bayern Munich
Bayern are actively working on a deal for Sacha Boey, and his agents Stellar Group are in Istanbul to take care of talks with Galatasaray. Bayern’s initial verbal proposal of €15m plus add-ons has been presented but Gala want more. Boey has already said yes to FC Bayern and agreed on personal terms. He’s open to the move. He would like to take this opportunity in the final days of the window. Talks are on but still no agreement.
Galatasaray Deputy Chairman Erden Timur: “We will not sell Boey for the figures being mentioned in the media.”
Celtic
Brendan Rodgers: “Matt O’Riley is a player we don't want to lose and he won't be going anywhere in January. He’s not for sale, we have immediately rejected a formal proposal from Atlético Madrid.”
Chelsea
Good news for Chelsea as Christopher Nkunku has re-joined first-team training. Same for Malo Gusto as both are set to return to action soon.
Si Phillips has an exclusive on the chase for Karim Benzema
Pochettino on Chelsea’s new striker search: “We are listening to too many rumours — players in, players out… At the moment, there’s nothing to say, nothing to communicate. We will if something happens.”
Pochettino on Armando Broja: “His potential is massive, he can be an amazing striker. I always compare him to Harry Kane. Loan to Leyton Orient, Norwich, spent time finding his real balance... then he started to perform, that’s when we started to see his real potential.”
Pochettino on Thiago Silva’s deal due to expire in June: “We didn't talk about the next season. This question is more for him than me. For him, it's to keep fit. With his age, he is doing fantastic. We are so happy with him. Then, the future is about him and the club.”
Pochettino gave his thoughts on facing Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final [pictures from Sky Sports].
Copa del Rey
Atlético Madrid claimed a narrow 1-0 win over Sevilla in their Copa del Rey quarter-final thanks to a goal from Memphis Depay [pictures from RFEF].
The four teams that will therefore contest this season’s Copa del Rey semi-finals are Real Sociedad, Mallorca, Athletic Club de Bilbao and Atlético Madrid.
Crystal Palace
Ademola Ola-Adebomi has signed a new deal at Crystal Palace, a one-year extension… and has joined Burton Albion on loan.
Eintracht Frankfurt
Jean-Mattéo Bahoya is a new Eintracht player on an €8.5m deal plus €4.5m in add-ons. The French talent completed medical tests on Thursday in Frankfurt and he’ll wear number 19.
Espanyol
Martin Braithwaite is La Liga 2 top scorer and one to watch. Multiple clubs want him but a €7m buyout clause makes it a slow process. He has a new clause in June; he can leave for free if Espanyol are promoted to La Liga, but if they fail to win promotion, the release clause will be cheap: €600k.
FA Cup
Bournemouth scored all five of their goals in a 5-0 win against Swansea in a one-sided first-half. The best goal was undoubtedly the opener scored by Lloyd Kelly after seven minutes. Alex Scott, Luis Sinisterra, David Brooks and Dominic Solanke all got on the scoresheet too, the first time since 2019 that the Cherries have had five different scorers in a game [pictures from Emirates FA Cup].
Heerenveen
Heerenveen are now closing in on deal to sign 2003 born talent Loizos Loizou from Omonia. Agreement reached on a loan move, ahead of Italian and Belgian clubs.
Lausanne Sport
Italian talent Simone Pafundi has joined INEOS owned side Lausanne Sport on a one-year loan from Udinese. Buy option clause is €15m.
Leicester City
Leicester City are now closing in on the Stefano Sensi deal. There’s a green light to proceed to the final stages of negotiations with Inter for a fee close to €2m. It’s just about final details then the deal can be completed.
Liverpool
Liverpool recently contacted La Liga sensation earmarked as Salah replacement [Relevo]
Klopp on Mo Salah: "If somebody really questions the loyalty of Mo Salah, I think he should ask himself if his loyalty is right. Mo Salah is the most loyal Egyptian I've ever met in my life… All parties agreed it makes sense that he does the rehab here, that’s what we are doing now. We have a season to play and we all want him fit. But if he’s fit earlier and if Egypt is still in the tournament, he will go back there.”
Lorient
Lorient have sent a €5.5m proposal to Hammarby for Viktor Djukanovic but it’s been rejected. Leuven had a €3m bid rejected months ago, also Rapid Vienna tried with no success.
Lyon
Nemanja Matić is on the verge of joining Lyon, medical booked for this morning. Deal in place with Rennes and verbal agreement with Matić on a contract valid until June 2026. Now waiting on documents and signature. Here we go soon.
Manchester City
Pep Guardiola on Omar Berrada bringing City secrets to Man United… “Yeah but Kevin De Bruyne is still at Man City, Erling Haaland will play here too. I’m not sure it’s that easy. But if United thinks with this person everything is going to change, congratulations.”
Pep Guardiola wished Kalvin Phillips' well ahead of his loan move to West Ham [pictures from Sky Sports News].
Manchester City finally confirm the Claudio Echeverri deal from River Plate. €14.5m net fixed fee to River. €9m in add-ons, performance-related. Add-ons only related to the player, NOT club titles. Staying on loan at River until December 2024.
Manchester United
Granada are waiting for the final green light to get the Facundo Pellistri deal done. Talks are at key stages. Pellistri wants the move, up to United to approve final conditions and then the player will fly for medical tests.
The major reason why ten Hag is unable to sign any more players for Man United [Daily Mirror]
Marseille
Ismaila Sarr is attracting interest and could leave Marseille as multiple clubs are keen on signing him in the final days of the window, including Villarreal.
Napoli
Napoli are advancing to complete the agreement for Nehuén Pérez soon. Negotiations moving to the final stages now with Udinese, after personal terms agreed. All parties confident to make it happen. Atlético have a sell-on clause for Pérez.
Chelsea ready to pay Osimhen release clause [CBS]
Paris Saint-Germain
Official and finally confirmed. Gabriel Moscardo joins PSG on a €20m deal plus €2m in add-ons. He’s staying at Corinthians on loan until June and then moving to PSG in the summer. “This project is full of top talent. I’m so proud of joining this big club,” he said.
Real Betis
Luiz Henrique to Botafogo, here we go! Agreement reached overnight with Textor Group Eagle. Botafogo will buy Luiz as their record signing for €20m, with the player’s future expected to be at Lyon.
Saudi Pro League
Romelu Lukaku: “In the next two years I see the Saudi Pro League becoming one of the best in the world, if not the best. The clubs make a lot of effort to bring the 'big' players here. They are improving a lot. It could be the best competition in the world.”
Shakhtar Donetsk
Marlon Gomes to Shakhtar Donetsk, here we go! Deal done with Vasco da Gama for €12m fixed fee. Agreement also includes €4m in add-ons. Documents being signed. Deal done by Pini Zahavi’s agency Gol International and Antenor Junior.
Spartak Moscow
A verbal agreement has been reached for Manuel Ugalde to join Spartak Moscow from Twente on a four and a half year deal. Clubs exchanging documents, and a €15m package will make it a club record sale for Twente.
The Debrief Podcast
Ben and Angus are joined by French Football Insider and CBS Reporter Jonathan Johnson to talk about the future of Kylian Mbappe at PSG, plus the latest on Karim Benzema's exit from Saudi Arabia and the sale of Monaco and Marseille. Fabrizio Romano drops in to give the latest on all of the other transfer rumours as we're just one week from the window shutting.
Tottenham Hotspur
Ange Postecoglou has confirmed James Maddison is “available to start” for Tottenham against Man City. “Kulusevski has recovered. Gio Lo Celso, Manor Salomon and Alejo are the only ones still out.”
The Spurs manager was happy with the condition of his squad during training this week after giving them four days off to relax ahead of a gruelling second half of the season [pictures from Sky Sports News].
West Ham United
Kalvin Phillips will be announced as a new West Ham player on Friday morning. Buy option clause in the loan deal from Man City will be worth £40m.
Striker keen on joining West Ham before deadline day [Football Fan Cast]