🚨 Ben White's new contract, Salah's record, Kudus goal of the season, England squad announced, De Bruyne injured again and more

Today's round-up of news clips and transfer stories, featuring Arsenal, West Ham and more...

Good morning all, and welcome to the latest edition of the Daily Briefing - thanks as always for reading, and hope you enjoy! :-)

Today’s top stories:

• Lewandowski wants Barcelona stay

• Kroos back with the German national team

• Key man set to sign for Liverpool

• Plus more from Fulham, Lazio & Man City

Arsenal

• Official, confirmed. Ben White has signed a new long term deal at Arsenal valid until June 2028 with an option for a further season. Edu: “Our supporters love him, we love him and we look forward to enjoying Ben’s performances with us for years to come.”

• Arteta: “Ben White is a key player for us, a top professional with a winning mentality, and one of the guys who leads by example every day. We all look forward to continue working with Ben in the coming years,” the Arsenal boss said.

• Arsenal ace’s future in immediate danger as Gunners eye Schulte [The Telegraph]

Atlético Madrid

• Koke’s new deal at Atléti, part of the plans as negotiations are well advanced. He was best player for Atléti in terms of stats against Inter for touches, tackles win rate and passes completed.

Barcelona

• Robert Lewandowski when asked about Kylian Mbappé to Real Madrid: “There is no ‘Here we go’ yet, so it's hard for me to comment. Knowing Kylian and speaking to him in the past, I know that playing against him in La Liga will be a cool thing.”

• Lewandowski on his future: “It’s clear for me, I’m gonna stay at Barcelona next season. One day somebody writes one thing, next day it is completely opposite. For me everything is clear.”

• What’s the truth on the Lamine Yamal to PSG rumours? Jonathan Johnson has the lowdown.

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Chelsea

• Chelsea are prepared to pay slightly less than £1m to Brentford as compensation for Bernardo Cueva to join as a new set-piece coach.

• Todd Boehly is looking to sell players to Saudi Arabia again. Si Phillips has the latest on why this has become a feature of the American’s tenure.

England

• Gareth Southgate’s official list for England. Branthwaite, Bowen, Toney and Anthony Gordon have been called up. Kobbie Mainoo, out.

• England coach Southgate: “We had a call from Arsenal last week to say that Ben White didn’t want to be considered for England squads. He didn’t want to be selected and it’s a great shame, he’s a player I really like. I took him to the Euros and World Cup. I spoke to him post Qatar, I was keen to pick him… there was clearly reticence on his side.”

• Southgate on why Kobbie Mainoo has been left out: “He’s doing brilliantly for a young player. We're never slow to put a young player into the seniors but he's only had a handful of games… He's getting some fabulous experience at Man Utd, he looks a really good character.”

• Southgate on Kalvin Phillips: “His form has just not been good enough recently. I've spoken to him, he understands. He's got all the attributes to force his way back in. I said if he continued not to play at City it would be a problem.”

Europa Conference League results

• Fenerbahçe 0-1 Union Saint-Gilloise: Mathias Rasmussen’s goal wasn’t enough to see the visitors through to the quarter-finals.

• Fiorentina 1-1 Maccabi Haifa: Antonin Barak’s 59th minute goal for the hosts helped La Viola through 5-4 on aggregate, Anan Khalaili with the late reply.

• PAOK 5-1 Dinamo Zagreb: Despite leading 2-0 from the first leg, Dinamo were swept aside by the hosts. Baba Rahman, Andrija Zivkovic, Brandon and a Konstantinos Koulierakis double did the damage.

• Viktoria Plzen 0-0 Servette (3-1 on pens): Though this was a game where the away side managed nine shots on target, they went out on penalties after a second 0-0 draw against the same opponent.

• Club Brugge 3-0 Molde: The hosts eased into the quarter-finals, overturning a 2-1 deficit from the first leg. Andreas Skov Olsen’s double saw them ahead in the tie and Michal Skóraś made the game safe.

• Aston Villa 4-0 Ajax: Unai Emery’s side took the Dutch giants apart in a wonderful second half at Villa Park. Ollie Watkins had set the Villains on their way before Leon Bailey, Jhon Durán and Moussa Diaby sealed a famous win [pictures from TNT Sports]:

• LOSC 1-1 Sturm Graz: Tiago Santos gave the hosts the lead on the night before Mika Biereth quickly responded, however, that was never going to be enough for the visitors who had lost the first leg 3-0.

• Maccabi Tel-Aviv 1-6 Olympiacos: The most incredible turnaround came in Israel as Maccabi were absolutely hammered, despite having won the first leg 4-1. Eran Zahavi’s penalty for the hosts was scant consolation, as Daniel Podence, Kostas Fortounis, Stevan Jovetić, Youssef El-Arabi and an Ayoub El Kaabi double ensured a famous win for Olympiacos.

Europa League results

• Slavia Prague 1-3 Milan: The Italian side went through with ease after the hosts were reduced to 10 men. Highlight of the match was this stunning effort from Rafa Leao [pictures from TNT Sports]:

• West Ham 5-0 Freiburg: David Moyes’ side barely broke sweat against their German counterparts. Lucas Paquetá set them on their way before Jarrod Bowen and Aaron Cresswell took the game away from the visitors. Mo Kudus’ late double included this sensational goal of the season effort [pictures from TNT Sports]:

• Rangers 0-1 Benfica: The Scottish giants were narrowly beaten by a Rafa Silva goal which was awarded by VAR.

• Villarreal 3-1 Marseille: A comfortable home win thanks to goals from Etienne Capoue, Alexander Sorloth and Yerson Mosquera still wasn’t enough for the Yellow Submarine to progress.

• Liverpool 6-1 Sparta Prague: Mo Salah became the first Liverpool player in history to score 20 goals in 7 consecutive seasons with his strike in the Reds’ romp. Other scorers on the night were Dominik Szoboszlai, Darwin Nunez, Bobby Clark and two from Cody Gakpo. Sparta’s consolation came on 42 from Velkjo Birmancevic. Pictures from TNT Sports:

• Atalanta 2-1 Sporting: Portuguese giants, Sporting, were knocked out thanks to two goals from Ademola Lookman and Gianluca Scamacca. Although Pedro Gonçalves had got the visitors back on level terms at one stage, they couldn’t get over the line.

• Brighton 1-0 Roma: Danny Welbeck’s goal on the night wasn’t enough to overturn a 4-0 first-leg deficit, though the Italians only had one shot on target and were there for the taking.

• Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 Qarabag: The visitors almost sprung the shock of the round as they were leading 2-0 at one point and were still a goal up going into added time thanks to goals from Abdellah Zoubir and Juninho. Jeremie Frimpong had pulled one back for the hosts by then, and they managed to retain their unbeaten record thanks to two injury-time goals from Patrik Schick [pictures from RMC Sport]:

Fulham

• Fulham have offered a new long-term deal to Tosin Adarabioyo with a salary rise as part of the proposal. Tosin’s current contract expires in June… but he’s still considering his future as several clubs remain interested in signing him as a free agent.

France

• Moussa Diaby, back in the France squad to replace the injured Kingsley Coman. Malo Gusto, Bradley Barcola and Axel Disasi, out. William Saliba, in.

Germany

• Toni Kroos, officially back with the German national team for the upcoming games — wanted by Julian Nagelsmann. First call up for Maximilian Beier and Aleksandar Pavlovic.

• Nagelsmann: “There’s a good chance that I'll sign before the Euros if I have an offer that I'm happy with. But I don't have anything on the table as of now. Nothing is concrete in terms of talks. It’s all open, focus on the Euros. BVB? You should ask them, not me.”

Lazio

• Former Marseille manager Igor Tudor is in Rome to meet and negotiate with Lazio president Claudio Lotito. Tudor could replace Sarri with a contract until June plus option for a further season being discussed.

• Lotito: “Sarri was betrayed” [Football Italia]

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Liverpool

• After Michael Edwards’ return, Liverpool are set to announce the appointment of Richard Hughes in the next few days. It’s all agreed with Hughes since last week as he’s going to leave Bournemouth.

• Liverpool want superstar with 12 goals in 24 games [BILD]

• A surprise name has emerged as a contender for the manager’s job and Jonathan Johnson has the lowdown on why it would be a sensible move for the Reds.

Manchester City

• Kevin De Bruyne, out of the Belgium squad due to a minor groin injury. “He’s been playing with a minor groin issue in the last games. It's better to give him time to recover well at City and have him ready for the Euros,” said Belgium coach Tedesco.

• Man City hero identified by Newcastle as Eddie Howe replacement [HITC]