🚨 Ronaldo's 900th goal, Casemiro and Antony latest, Palmer out of Chelsea squad, Nations League round up and much more
Plus all of the other stories making the news in the world of football...
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 Arsenal, Manchester City and Real Madrid
Argentina
Argentina fans paying tribute to Ángel Di Maria who retired from international football [pictures via Fabrizio Romano X account]:
Ángel Di Maria: “Now I’ll be just another fan, cheering the team on from up there. I’ll go to all the Copa Américas and World Cups. We will surely keep going this way because this team has a lot of guts.”
Leo Messi’s letter to Di Maria. “I hope you enjoy this evening a lot with your family and loved ones. We’ve said everything we needed to say. We shared so much, and who would have thought it would end this way? We’ll miss you a lot. See you soon.”
Arsenal
Find out what Fabrizio Romano thought of Arsenal’s transfer window performance in an exclusive breakdown.
International manager gives worrying injury update about Arsenal star [CaughtOffside]
Ballon d’Or
Neymar Jr on Rodrygo out of the Ballon d’Or top 30. “Minimum top 5 in the world. Craque.”
Bayern director Eberl on Musiala out of the Ballon d’Or: “We are very surprised that Jamal Musiala is missing from this list. It’s completely incomprehensible.”
Lamine Yamal ousts Kylian Mbappé to make Ballon d’Or history [Sport]
Barcelona
Ter Stegen on his contract at Barça until 2028: “I am very, very happy at Barça. Future? We will see, but fundamentally, I am very, very satisfied at the moment with my contractual situation and with the club where I have been active for more than a decade now.”
Lamine Yamal addresses comparisons with Lionel Messi [MARCA]
Chelsea
Djordje Petrović agreed to sign on improved terms at Chelsea ahead of his loan move to Strasbourg. This was part of the plan for Petrović after his opening season in PL, now joining Strasbourg and then his future will be assessed again in June 2025.
Chelsea confirm squad for next stage of Conference League. Wesley Fofana, Cole Palmer and also Romeo Lavia have been left out. Decision taken due to load management as Chelsea season could go on until July 2025 with Club’s World Cup too.
Chelsea might have a much better chance of landing Victor Osimhen next summer. Fabrizio Romano tells us why.
Si Phillips discusses the rapid rise of Cole Palmer and why his Ballon d’Or nomination is testament to his hard work over the past year.
Find out which Chelsea talent Fabrizio Romano rates in this exclusive breakdown of the Blues performance in the transfer window.
Conor Gallagher: “I don’t think it’s true that I don’t fit Enzo Maresca’s system. I had a good season as you could see by Pochettino playing me every game and showing his trust in me. The fans appreciated what I did on the pitch too.”
Flamengo
Flamengo make contact with former Man United striker Anthony Martial among main options to replace Pedro. Following Pedro’s ACL injury, Martial has been approached while he’s considering several options for his future.
France
Deschamps: “Adrien Rabiot has a somewhat embarrassing situation. His contract was expiring and he was solicited by several teams... but now he’s without a team and doesn’t train in a group. I hope he can quickly choose a club that can then bring him back to us.”
Galatasaray
Osimhen on joining Galatasaray: “It was easy for me to accept Gala, it’s a big club. Onyekuru told me how special the fans are, I saw how they welcomed me at the airport… I was so happy. I was already following Gala since Dries Mertens joined them, I can’t wait now.”
Liverpool
John Terry’s comment on Rio Ngumoha joining Liverpool:
What’s happening with Mo Salah after his veiled threat at the weekend? Fabrizio Romano has an exclusive update on the Egyptian King’s future.
Jurgen Klopp’s comments on Erik ten Hag’s treatment of Jadon Sancho [Telegraph]
Manchester City
Manchester City have completed a deal to sign Xavier Parker from West Ham for their Academy. Story confirmed.
Rico Lewis on loan proposals: “I never thought about going anywhere. I was training with the best players in the world and the best manager in the world day-in, day-out. It’s impossible not to learn stuff.”
Rodri and Mateo Kovacic on the move? Fabrizio Romano has an exclusive update on the Man United pair.
Man City set to offer key first-team player bumper pay rise [TBR Football]
Manchester United
No truth in Antony-Fenerbahçe links from Turkey as he’s fully committed to Man Utd project. No intention to leave the club this summer, as always stated by those close to the Brazilian winger.
Casemiro, currently expected to stay at Man United at least until 2025 despite links with Galatasaray. The Brazilian midfielder is not planning to leave the club now, no concrete talks taking place with Gala. “I trust him, he will be back,” ten Hag said after the Liverpool game.
Tyrell Malacia has been included in Man Utd's 25-man Europa League squad for this season. Same for Casemiro.
Man United midfielder agrees to leave club but on one condition [ESPN]
Nations League
Azerbaijan vs Sweden (1-3): All of the goals in this one came in the final 25 minutes, with Alexander Isak’s quick fire double on 65 and 71 putting Sweden in control. Viktor Gyökeres’ 80th minute penalty settled the game, making Renat Dadashov’s reply on 82 nothing more than a consolation.
Belarus vs Bulgaria (0-0): As the result would suggest, a game of little goalmouth action, with the hosts having just two shots on target in the whole match. Not even a red card for Bulgaria’s Filip Krastev on 73 afforded Belarus an advantage.
San Marino vs Liechtenstein (1-0): It was a night of historic proportions for San Marino, after debutant, Nicko Sensoli’s 53rd-minute goal gave the country their first-ever competitive victory. It’s only the second time they’ve won a match, with the first coming in a friendly against the same opponents 20 years ago [pictures from UEFA Nations League]:
Northern Ireland vs Luxembourg (2-0): The hosts ensured that this game was over as a contest by the 16th minute, Paddy McNair and Daniel Ballard both having netted. Luxembourg offered nothing throughout the match as no shots on target would attest.
Estonia vs Slovakia (0-1): Despite having an incredible 25 shots on the Estonian goal, Slovakia only scraped past their opponents by the odd goal thanks to Tomáš Suslov’s 70th-minute winner.
Serbia vs Spain (0-0): A surprisingly one-sided affair didn’t produce a winner, and Spain will be kicking themselves. They had 21 shots to Serbia’s nine, 74% possession to Serbia’s 26% and 611 passes to Serbia’s 227. An opportunity missed.
Scotland vs Poland (2-3): A fantastic five-goal thriller to kick off Group A. Sebastian Szymánski and a Robert Lewandowski penalty put the Poles two up by half-time, but Billy Gilmour began the fight back immediately after the break before Scott McTominay levelled on 76. Just when it seemed as though the points would be shared, Nicola Zalewski fired home a 97th-minute penalty for the winner.
Denmark vs Switzerland (2-0): Denmark left it late to get over the line in this one. Patrick Dorgu didn’t open the scoring until the 82nd minute, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg adding the second on 92. Switzerland had both Nico Elvedi and Granit Xhaka sent off, and that could hurt them over the course of the next games.
Portugal vs Croatia (2-1): Diogo Dalot was on the score sheet for both teams, in a match which was most notable for Cristiano Ronaldo’s 34th minute goal, which turned out to be the winner. Incredibly, it was his 900th competitive strike for club or country.
Portugal fans’ tribute for Pepe:
Cristiano: “Portugal winning the Euros is equivalent to winning a World Cup. I've already won two trophies for Portugal that I really wanted. I'm not motivated by that. I'm motivated by enjoying football and the records come naturally.”
Cristiano: “900 goals seems like any other milestone, but only I know how hard it is to work every day to score your 900th goal. It's a unique milestone in my career. I don’t break records… they haunt me!”
Fabrizio Romano paid tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo and said it was a “fantastic achievement.”
Real Madrid
Kylian Mbappé: “It’s going very well with Real Madrid. We’ve already won a trophy! Issues with PSG on salary? I’ve only positive things to say about PSG, I wish them all the best.”
After Tchouameni and Mendy, Éder Militão also leaves national team camp. Brazil confirm he’s out for the next two games due to a muscle injury.
Real Madrid expect Éder Militão to miss the Real Sociedad game. New tests will follow to understand how long he will be out.
Dani Carvajal is likely to sign a new Real Madrid contract. Fabrizio Romano breaks down the detail.
Liverpool legend believes Trent Alexander-Arnold is tailor made for Real Madrid [Three Up Front Podcast]
Saudi Pro League
Steven Bergwijn, presented and unveiled as new Al Ittihad player from Ajax. He’ll wear number 34.
Sporting
Viktor Gyokeres can already count 8 goals and 5 assists with club and country… …and it’s beginning of September.
Tottenham Hotspur
Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon have been left out of Tottenham’s Europa League squad. The squad can still be changed in January 2025 after the end of the transfer window.
27-year-old winger offered to Tottenham on a free transfer [Football Insider]
Western Sydney Wanderers
After winning leagues in Turkey and Japan, Juan Mata has just signed in as a new player for Western Sydney Wanderers in the A-League. He’s aiming to win another championship in a different country, massive move for Australian football.
