🚨 Arsenal eye €60m winger, Man United considering ambitious Bayern raid, agent speaks out on Haaland-Barcelona talk, & more
Today's headlines, featuring a crucial update on Erling Haaland's future...
Happy Friday everyone and welcome to another Daily Briefing, here as always to give you all your essential football headlines in one place, with no ads. Thanks for reading, and enjoy :-)
Today’s top stories:
Plus Arsenal join race for Kevin Schade & much more
Europa and Conference League round-up
Ollie Watkins moment of quality gives Villa win at Lille
Ollie Watkins scored a superb looping header for Aston Villa as they picked up an impressive 1-0 win away to Lille.
Unai Emery’s side are now in control of this tie thanks to a hard-fought away victory, and it was a moment of real quality from Watkins to decide the game in the 60th minute.
This was also Villa’s 100th win under Emery, who is showing himself to be a European specialist once again.
FT Lille 0-1 Aston Villa [Pictures from TNT Sports]
Nottingham Forest suffer home defeat with late goal
Nottingham Forest have it all to do after losing their first leg tie with Midtjylland yesterday evening.
Cho scored a superbly-taken header with just ten minutes to go as Forest suffered a 1-0 defeat at the City Ground.
Vitor Pereira’s side can’t really complain about the result after a disappointing performance, and it will take something special to help them come back in the away leg.
FT Nottingham Forest 0-1 Midtjylland [Pictures from TNT Sports]
The Daily Briefing newsletter is now FREE to read - with all your essential football headlines delivered ad-free straight to your inbox seven mornings a week.
UPGRADE to a paid subscription to receive exclusive in-depth transfer news, comment, and analysis from our experts!
Arsenal
Kevin Schade is a transfer target for Arsenal this summer as internal discussions have taken place over a move for the Brentford winger as an upgrade on Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard. (Mark Brus, CaughtOffside)
Have Arsenal made a big mistake with Bukayo Saka’s £75m contract? (Mark Brus, CaughtOffside)
Aston Villa
Aston Villa could be set to rival Arsenal and other clubs for Julian Brandt this summer as he nears the end of his contract with Borussia Dortmund. (Football Insider)
Barcelona
Julian Alvarez could leave Atletico Madrid this summer, but they’re adamant that they don’t want to sell their star player to rivals Barcelona. (Sport)
Barcelona plan to set aside a budget of around €100m to spend on a new forward to replace Robert Lewandowski this summer. (Mundo Deportivo)
One striker being linked with Barca is Erling Haaland, but his agent Rafaela Pimenta insists he’s happy at Manchester City. (La Sexta)
Barcelona are confident of signing Alessandro Bastoni this summer, despite other top clubs such as Liverpool also being keen on the Inter Milan defender. (TEAMtalk)
Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich left-back Alphonso Davies is emerging as an ambitious target for Manchester United this summer. (Sports Boom)
Chelsea
Riccardo Calafiori to Chelsea could be a surprise transfer story to watch out for this summer as the Italian defender is not entirely happy with his role at Arsenal. (Simon Phillips)
Chelsea winger Pedro Neto has been added to Barcelona’s list of transfer targets to strengthen in attack this summer. (Mundo Deportivo)
Liverpool
Liverpool are expected to step up their interest in Juventus defender Pierre Kalulu, though the Serie A giants want him to sign a new contract. (Mark Brus, the Daily Briefing)
Arne Slot is still being backed by Liverpool despite a difficult second season at Anfield for the Reds manager. (David Ornstein, the Athletic)
Tino Livramento looks set to be available for £60m this summer, with Liverpool one of the clubs made aware of the Newcastle full-back’s situation. (TEAMtalk)
Liverpool are keen on Inter Milan centre-back Alessandro Bastoni but face strong competition from Barcelona for his signature. (TEAMtalk)
Liverpool boss Slot has also held personal talks with another top central defender over a summer move - full story here!
Liverpool are being tipped to win the race for this in-demand England international - full story here!
Manchester City
This top Manchester City target could be allowed to move for £60m this summer, with Pep Guardiola’s side leading the race - more info here!
Ousmane Dembele’s agent recently met with Manchester City sporting director Hugo Viana for talks amid rumours that he’s unhappy at PSG. (Sport)
Erling Haaland’s agent Rafaela Pimenta has played down transfer links with Barcelona, but is there a bigger problem here for Manchester City? (La Sexta)
Manchester United
Manchester United are interested in Juventus defender Pierre Kalulu, though the Serie A giants want him to sign a new contract and they’ll face competition from Liverpool. (Mark Brus, the Daily Briefing)
Harry Maguire could be offered a new Manchester United contract but he’ll have to be prepared to take a pay cut to around £100,000 a week. (iNews)
Another Serie A defender is in Manchester United’s sights - full story here!
Joshua Zirkzee is considering leaving Manchester United this summer as he’s keen to be playing more regular first-team football. (Sun)
Manchester United are rivalling Arsenal for Sandro Tonali but also have four other Premier League stars on their list of top targets for the summer - more info here!
Bayern Munich left-back Alphonso Davies is emerging as an ambitious target for Manchester United this summer. (Sports Boom)
Newcastle United
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe is pushing for Fabian Schar to be given a new contract as he edges closer to becoming a free agent. (Football Insider)
PSG
Ousmane Dembele’s agent recently met with Manchester City sporting director Hugo Viana for talks amid rumours that he’s unhappy at PSG. (Sport)
Real Madrid
Real Madrid are surprisingly prepared to listen to offers for Eduardo Camavinga this summer, with €50m possibly enough for the French midfielder to leave. (Radio Marca)
Tottenham
Tottenham remain keen on Liverpool left-back Andrew Robertson as a summer target after coming close to bringing him in in January. (Football Insider)
Tottenham are reported to have cooled their interest in Real Madrid forward Rodrygo Goes due to concerns over his ACL injury. (Nicolo Schira)
West Ham United
This 28-year-old Premier League star has expressed a preference for West Ham over Aston Villa - full story here!