🚨 Cole Palmer scores FOUR, Chelsea's embarrassing penalty row, Man Utd star visits former club, update on Juventus duo, & more
Today's round-up, featuring Chelsea news clips, Man Utd transfer news, and more.
Good morning everyone! Welcome to the latest Daily Briefing - all your essential football headlines in one place, delivered ad-free and straight to your inbox. Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoy!
Today’s top stories:
What a performance from Cole Palmer as Chelsea thrashed Everton
Plus more from Barcelona, Juventus + don’t miss Matteo Moretto’s column!
AC Milan
AC Milan CEO Giorgio Furlani: “Theo Hernandez, Rafael Leao and Mike Maignan are happy to stay AC Milan and they all have long term contracts here. We don’t need to sell any player in the summer. We can invest without any top player sale.”
Arsenal
Arsenal could target a new left-back this summer, confirms Fabrizio Romano in his exclusive column, but what does it mean for Oleksandr Zinchenko?
Could Bruno Guimaraes to Arsenal be a realistic option this summer? Fabrizio Romano addresses the story in his exclusive column.
Arsenal title prediction from Gunners legend Ian Wright could make painful reading for Gooners…
Atalanta
Gianluca Scamacca is in superb form right now - another great strike from him here! FT Atalanta 2-2 Hellas Verona [Pictures from TNT Sports]
Barcelona
Xavi: “Many people are now asking about me and my future nowadays… which wasn’t the case 3 months ago. I’m not the one important now, let’s focus on the club.”
Barcelona president Joan Laporta on Xavi’s future: “I feel that the situation with Xavi is still open and can change. We will talk again at the end of the season.”
More info here from Fabrizio Romano on Barca’s plans to try to keep Xavi.
Matteo Moretto has also got some insight into the Xavi situation in his exclusive column.
Pedri confirms Barca are set to offer him a new deal: “I’m very calm, I know Barcelona will respect what they told me about the contract. Barca has always been the club of my dreams”, Pedri added. A new deal is being prepared and to be discussed in the next months.
Barcelona reject Raphinha bid - a Premier League club is reportedly trying to sign the Brazilian winger!
Bayer Leverkusen
Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro: “Many clubs want Xabi Alonso, maybe one day he can work for one of them, especially those where he used to play… but he’s happy here now, that’s why he’s staying. Release clause? It’s a confidential matter between us.”
Carro: “Every year we need to sell one big player to find budget for new signings, so probably we will sell one player. We’re planning to sign 2/3 players with that amount of money.”
Chelsea
Cole Palmer ran riot against Everton last night, scoring this outstanding lob over Jordan Pickford for a first-half hat-trick! He’s now joint-top scorer in the Premier League alongside Manchester City striker Erling Haaland! FT Chelsea 6-0 Everton [Pictures from Sky Sports]
Palmer is just the second Chelsea player to score a hat-trick in back-to-back home appearances in the Premier League after Blues legend Didier Drogba in May/August 2010.
Palmer is also the first Chelsea player to net four or more goals in a single league match for the Blues since Frank Lampard did it against Aston Villa back in March 2010.
Mauricio Pochettino on Cole Palmer: “We knew when we signed him what a great talent he is. I think he’s doing really well. He’s a fantastic player. He has adapted his game to the team so well from day one. Cole hasn’t surprised us. He is a player with the capacity to score goals. We saw at Manchester City that he had the capacity to score easily, no? The way he is performing is fantastic. It is amazing for him and the team and shows the club made a great decision to sign him.”
But what a ridiculous incident this was from Chelsea’s players as they argued over who should take a penalty! [Pictures from Sky Sports]
Mauricio Pochettino with strong words after penalty farce: “They want to behave like kids? Here is not possible. Next time they’re all out. It’s not a joke. It’s impossible after a performance like this to have this behaviour. We have to learn a lot if we want to be a great team.”
Pochettino makes it clear Cole Palmer is the penalty taker: “Palmer is the penalty taker. It won’t happen again, can’t behave like kids again. It’s a shame. I told the players this is the last time I will accept this type of behaviour. This is not a joke. Again, very clear. Cole Palmer is the penalty taker.”
Cole Palmer on penalty row: “I’m the penalty taker. I wanted to take it so I took it. Everyone wants to take responsibility. We ended up laughing and joking about it but the manager has spoken to us about it now.”
Pochettino on injuries: “We need to assess why players were injured, the risk to suffer injuries in the future. We have all the information and now it’s about taking decisions. It’s about agreeing with the club and trying to design the best strategy.”
Pochettino on Chelsea transfers: “We need to bring some experienced players this summer and also more young players. That is all about talking with the club and analysing and to design the strategy for the next season and go fight for big things.”
Everton
Sean Dyche on Everton being thrashed by Chelsea: “They were dancing around us - not just the back five but the young lads in midfield too. They will learn if you don’t get tackles in and read the play you will get hurt. There were too many errors and too many players way off the mark.”
Genoa
Genoa have triggered the buy option clause to sign Koni De Winter from Juventus after today’s appearance. Juventus will receive €8m for the Belgian defender who can be considered as a new Genoa player now.
Inter Milan
Inter manager Simone Inzaghi: “I’m very happy here, at the end of the season we will discuss about my contract. There will be no issues in talks to keep going together, I am sure.”
Andre Onana on visiting the San Siro to watch Inter play: "Inter is a family for me, I love the fans. I wish them all the best. Regrets? No, I’m happy at Man United. But I’m so happy for Inter, the club is incredible and this team is fantastic.”
Juventus
Adrien Rabiot transfer talk continues, so why isn’t he discussing a new Juventus contract yet? Fabrizio Romano has the answers in his exclusive column.
Felipe Anderson with a surprise late change of heart as he’s signed in as a new Palmeiras player on a free transfer from Lazio, after deciding against signing a new contract. He received Juventus’ proposal for a three-year contract last week but he decided for a shock return to Palmeiras for family reasons.
Kenan Yildiz is set to sign new deal at Juventus valid until June 2028. It’s all agreed with Leaderbrocks agency, set to be sealed soon. Right after the official signature, Yildiz and Leaderbrocks agency will part ways due to different view on future steps.
Genoa have triggered the buy option clause to sign Koni De Winter from Juventus after today’s appearance. Juventus will receive €8m for the Belgian defender who can be considered as a new Genoa player now.
Lazio
Felipe Anderson confirms: “I will leave Lazio as free agent at the end of the season as there’s no agreement to extend my deal.” He’s signing for Palmeiras after a late U-turn on joining Juventus.
Liverpool
What does Jurgen Klopp’s wife want for the Liverpool manager’s future?
Joao Palhinha on Ruben Amorim to Liverpool links: “If he signs for Liverpool, I have no doubt that people will like his personality. I believe he is a great option to replace Klopp. He’s used to dealing with pressure.”
Manchester City
Jamal Musiala to Man City? They could reportedly be prepared to pay big for the Bayern star…
Manchester United
Alejandro Garnacho has been disciplined by Manchester United and Fabrizio Romano has shared his views on the incident in his latest column.
Teun Koopmeiners to Manchester United? Matteo Moretto takes a look at the story in his exclusive column.
Antonio Conte for Manchester United manager? There are other clubs reportedly interested as well…
Anthony Martial will leave Manchester United at the end of the season, no doubts. He’s going to pick his favourite option for his next club in the coming months, but is now focused on his recovery.
Donny van de Beek will return to Man United in June. The buy option clause (€11m plus €3m add-ons) into loan deal will not be triggered by Eintracht Frankfurt. The Dutch midfielder is expected to look for a new chapter at a new club in the summer transfer window.
Andre Onana on visiting the San Siro to watch Inter play: "Inter is a family for me, I love the fans. I wish them all the best. Regrets? No, I’m happy at Man United. But I’m so happy for Inter, the club is incredible and this team is fantastic.”
Shea Lacey has signed his first professional deal at Manchester United - a five year contract for the talented 17-year-old winger.
Napoli
Napoli already have a Victor Osimhen replacement in mind for the summer, according to Matteo Moretto in his exclusive column.
Newcastle United
Could Bruno Guimaraes to Arsenal be a realistic option this summer? Fabrizio Romano addresses the story in his exclusive column.
Palmeiras
Felipe Anderson has signed in as new Palmeiras player on free transfer from Lazio, after deciding against signing new contract. He received Juventus’ proposal for a three-year contract last week but he decided for a shock return to Palmeiras for family reasons.
Real Madrid
Arda Guler has NOT asked to leave Real Madrid - more details in Fabrizio Romano’s latest column.
Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro: “It’s possible that Xabi Alonso will become Real Madrid manager one day, yes.”
Real Sociedad
Arsen Zakharyan: “It’s true, I had an offer from Chelsea but I preferred to sign for Real Sociedad. I wanted to come to La Liga, to Spain, and that’s why I came to Real. Real’s game is very favourable for me, we always control the ball.”
Roma
Official AS Roma statement on Evan Ndicka. “First and second-level cardiological tests were administered that were negative for cardiac pathologies. In light of the last tests undergone this morning, the medical situation is compatible with a thoracic trauma with minimal left pneumothorax. The player was discharged and will undergo additional tests in Rome.”