🚨💰 Arsenal target to cost £100m, new deals at Real Madrid & Juve, Darwin Nunez SCREAMER in Liverpool win, Ten Hag's message to Man Utd, and more

Today's Briefing, featuring Arsenal, Man Utd, Liverpool, and much more!

Nov 02, 2023

Good morning everyone and welcome to another Daily Briefing - thanks as always for reading and hope you enjoy today’s updates!

Today’s top stories:

Arsenal

Arsenal are out of the Carabao Cup after a fine performance from West Ham, including this lovely goal by Mohammed Kudus, who controlled a long ball perfectly before a clinical finish. FT West Ham 3-1 Arsenal [Pictures courtesy of Sky Sports]
Mikel Arteta on Aaron Ramsdale: “Every week, I haven’t seen anything different. More determination, more hunger to play, he's got another opportunity like many others to do what he's been doing, nothing different.”
Arteta confirms bad news on Emile Smith Rowe injury: “Emile Smith-Rowe will be out for weeks due to knee injury.”
Benjamin Sesko to Arsenal? Fabrizio Romano has an update here.

Atletico Madrid

A tribute to Antoine Griezmann as he enjoys a real renaissance at Atletico Madrid after struggling at Barcelona - Jonathan Johnson with more here.

Bayern Munich

A huge shock yesterday as Bayern Munich were beaten 2-1 by third division side Saarbrucken. Responding to the result, Thomas Tuchel said: “We weren’t arrogant or took it lightly. There are 100 explanations or none. It feels strange. Everyone who says we have to win here is right. There’s no clever explanation, we are extremely disappointed.”
Bayern director Christoph Freund: “This is just unacceptable, I don’t understand how you can play such a bad first half. No courage, no speed, aggressiveness — you can’t compete with any opponent like that. The disappointment is huge.”
Official: Aleksandar Pavlovic has signed a professional contract at Bayern Munich until 2027. CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen said: “He’s from Munich and has made it into Bayern first team - our fans dream of such stories becoming reality, and we at the club feel the same way.”
Bad news for Bayern as Matthijs de Ligt had to go off the pitch yesterday due to injury. More disappointment for Thomas Tuchel as Bayern have been really unlucky with injuries this season.

Brentford

📰 Ivan Toney’s asking price this January could be as high as £100m as Brentford want to keep him until at least the end of the season (Sky Sports)

Carabao Cup quarter-final draw

Everton vs Fulham
Chelsea vs Newcastle
Port Vale vs Middlesbrough
Liverpool vs West Ham

Chelsea

Mauricio Pochettino has defended Nicolas Jackson after fan criticism: “For different reasons, Jackson is now suffering. Nico needs support. I believe in him, really. Only problem is time. I don’t want to give examples, but he arrived at Chelsea in a situation that is not easy for him. We cannot be unfair in the analysis.”
Pochettino: “The important thing is to trust the ideas, the judgment and analysis of why certain things have not happened. To help the organisation to be better and to improve, and not to make the same mistakes again.”
Rayan Cherki has been linked with Chelsea but could there be issues putting off the Blues and other top clubs? Jonathan Johnson with more info here.

Crystal Palace

Sam Johnstone has signed a new deal at Crystal Palace valid until 2027 with the option for a further season.

Inter Milan

Inter director Piero Ausilio has had this to say on signing Benjamin Pavard this summer: “Pavard deal has been one of the most difficult of my career. It was really tough. FC Bayern were very strong on their position, they didn’t want to sell him.”
Inter director Ausilio on missing out on Romelu Lukaku: “Deals can collapse but respect should always be there. If someone disappears and doesn’t even answer to phone calls… that was unacceptable. The deal with Chelsea collapsed on July 8 after days and days trying to call him.”
Inter director Ausilio: “I can reveal that Lautaro Martinez was already new Atletico Madrid player in 2018. There was just a small clause missing between Racing and Atleti. Both Zanetti and Milito both helped us… I decided to fly to Argentina and we hijacked the deal.”

Juventus

Italian midfielder Manuel Locatelli will sign a new deal at Juventus until June 2028, as revealed first revealed ten days ago - it’s now just a matter of time.
Was there any other interest in Locatelli? More from Fabrizio Romano here.

Leeds United

Crysencio Summerville could be one to watch this January - more from Fabrizio Romano here.

Leicester City

The Football Association are set to write to clubs asking players to avoid using the phrase “from river to the sea” after Leicester City’s Hamza Choudhury apologised for using it and said his social media post was “misinterpreted”. For now, the FA have chosen not to punish Choudhury, but said: “If this phrase is used again by a football participant, we will seek police guidance on how we should treat it and respond.”

Liverpool

What a strike by Darwin Nunez to give Liverpool the win away to Bournemouth last night - how impressive has his improvement been this season? FT Bournemouth 1-2 Liverpool [Pictures courtesy of Sky Sports]

Lyon

What’s gone wrong at Lyon this season and could they risk losing key players this January? Details here from Jonathan Johnson’s column.

Manchester City

Jeremy Doku has made a great start at Manchester City - here’s why Jonathan Johnson is a bit surprised.

Manchester United

Manchester United have reportedly been struggling with kit issues this season, with some players complaining about the socks being too tight, while Andre Onana has been wearing a replica shirt as his jersey was too small.
Erik ten Hag after back-to-back 0-3 defeats: “Yes, we know this is not good enough. I have to take responsibility. I feel sorry for the fans. Players will stand up. They are sticking together, you seen they tried. You’ve to do it as a team. That is the only way.”
Ten Hag on his future: “I’m a fighter. I’m confident I can do it, but at this moment we are in a bad place. I take responsibility — but I see it as a challenge. I have to stick together with my players and fight together.”
More on Ten Hag’s situation and his response to Man Utd’s defeat from Fabrizio Romano here.
Jean-Clair Todibo is on Manchester United’s radar but won’t come cheap - more info here from Jonathan Johnson.
Another injury blow for Man Utd as Casemiro went off during the Newcastle game due to injury — as confirmed by Erik ten Hag. The Brazilian midfielder is expected to be out for the game against Fulham as well.

Monaco

AS Monaco are on the verge of signing Kassoum Ouattara as a new left-back from Amiens for a fee close to €2m. The deal is being finalised.

Newcastle United

Newcastle scored three fine goals in a deserved win away to Manchester United, and how about that assist by Tino Livramento on the first goal? FT Man Utd 0-3 Newcastle [Pictures courtesy of Sky Sports]
Eddie Howe: “It’s a very good performance from us. I thought the mentality of the group was unbelievable tonight … without (the players) committing to what we asked them to do today, you’ve got no chance in my position. The spirit of the group showed in the performance - this is a tough place to come and the performance really pleased me.”

NK Kustosija

Malian 2006-born talent Baye Coulibaly is on the verge of signing for Croatian side NK Kustosija - as a deal has been agreed for him to join in 2024. Coulibaly joins from Academie de Football ‘Let etoils du mande’, and he’s considered a talent to keep an eye on.

Real Madrid

Rodrygo Goes will put pen to paper on a new long term deal today — public announcement with Florentino Perez. New contract until June 2028 with €1bn release clause, confirmed.
📰 Real Madrid’s dressing room believe Kylian Mbappe will be joining the club in 2024 (Marca)

Toulouse

Toulouse talented goalkeeper Guillaume Restes (born 2005) has signed a new deal until June 2028, sealed today. It follows his excellent performances in Ligue 1 and Europa League but also with the France U21s under Thierry Henry - and Wolves wanted to sign him last summer.

West Ham United

David Moyes on the win over Arsenal: “It was a really good solid team performance. The forward players did a really good job and for long periods we were good defensively. For most of it we coped well. Maybe we are becoming quite a good cup team. I want to be a really good league team if I can be but if I can’t quite do that then we have to do well in the cups if we can. We have only won against Arsenal - we don’t get trophies for that.”

the Daily Briefing

Discussion about this post