🚨 Chelsea thrash Barca, Arsenal chase Spanish wonderkid, Liverpool accelerate efforts to sign CB, Man United confident of signing PL star, & more
Today's round-up, featuring the biggest headlines from Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Man United and more!
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:
Liverpool eyeing Goncalo Inacio as urgent top target
Plus Pablo Barrios to Chelsea & more!
Champions League round-up
Brilliant Chelsea breeze past Barcelona
Chelsea showed they’re the real deal last night with an emphatic 3-0 win over Barcelona at Stamford Bridge.
A Jules Kounde own goal gave the Blues the lead in the first half, and things were made worse for Barca as Ronald Araujo was shown a red card.
Estevao Willian then lit up the game with a superb solo effort as he out-shone fellow wonderkid Lamine Yamal.
FT Chelsea 3-0 Barcelona [Pictures from Prime Video Sport]
Manchester City punished by Bayer Leverkusen
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola made ten changes to his starting line up, and Bayer Leverkusen punished him with a 2-0 win at the Etihad Stadium.
Alejandro Grimaldo scored a well-taken opener after a neat counter-attack, before Patrik Schick headed in the second to wrap up all three points.
It might not have been City’s best team, but that’s two defeats in a row for Guardiola and co.
FT Manchester City 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen [Pictures from TNT Sports]
Marseille come from behind to beat Newcastle
A double from former Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang saw Marseille come from behind to beat Newcastle.
Harvey Barnes struck first to give the Magpies just the start they wanted in the first half, but their defence fell apart in the second period.
Aubameyang pounced on some sloppy goalkeeping to produce a superb finish for the equaliser, and he struck home from close range to complete the comeback.
FT Marseille 2-1 Newcastle [Pictures from TNT Sports]
Champions League scores in full
Ajax 0-2 Benfica
Galatasaray 0-1 USG
Bodo/Glimt 2-3 Juventus
Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Villarreal
Chelsea 3-0 Barcelona
Manchester City 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen
Marseille 2-1 Newcastle United
Napoli 2-1 Qarabag
Slavia Prague 0-0 Athletic Bilbao
Arsenal
Arsenal are closely monitoring Rodrigo Mendoza as a transfer target, with the talented young Spanish midfielder earning rave reviews and drawing comparisons with Barcelona’s Pedri. (Telegraph)
Arsenal are also back in for Real Madrid’s Rodrygo Goes, but the Gunners look set to face competition from Liverpool and Tottenham for the Brazilian forward as he’s expected to leave the Bernabeu this January. (Fichajes)
Arsenal and Chelsea look set to compete for the signing of €90m-rated Nottingham Forest centre-back Murillo. (Fichajes)
Barcelona
Take a look at the Barcelona player ratings after a humbling 3-0 defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Hansi Flick was not happy with Ronald Araujo’s red card, saying: “We started very well and had a big chance to score the first goal. Then the red card changed the game. It’s not easy to come back against this Chelsea team with ten players. The first yellow, I don’t know what happened. I have to speak with him and see the video. He shouldn’t have gone in like that for the second foul – it was not the right move.”
Chelsea
Pablo Barrios to Chelsea looks like a major deal to watch as the Blues look to make a big investment in midfield. (Mark Brus, the Daily Briefing)
Arsenal and Chelsea look set to compete for the signing of €90m-rated Nottingham Forest centre-back Murillo. (Fichajes)
Liverpool
Liverpool remain strongly interested in Michael Olise, with the feeling being that Bayern Munich could let the French winger go for a huge fee of around €130m. (Mark Brus, the Daily Briefing)
Alternatively, Liverpool are making Antoine Semenyo more of a top target in that position as Olise does not have a release clause, so could be a trickier target. (Florian Plettenberg)
Goncalo Inacio is a top target for Liverpool, with the Reds now expected to speed up their efforts to get this deal done as a matter of urgency this January. Sporting Lisbon’s asking price would likely be around €80m. (Fichajes)
Liverpool’s top three January targets have been revealed - full story here!
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Manchester City
Manchester City are one of the clubs keen on a potential transfer move for Roma full-back Zeki Celik (TEAMtalk)
Manchester United
Joao Gomes is a top target for Manchester United, with the Red Devils optimistic of landing the Wolves midfielder for around €50m. (Globo Esporte)
Manchester United are one of the clubs hovering for a potential move to sign James Garner on a free transfer, though Everton are scrambling to try to get him to sign a new contract. (talkSPORT)
Manchester United have added Kyle Macaulay to their list of scouts, with the former Chelsea and Brighton chief set to report to Christopher Vivell. (The Athletic)
Ruben Amorim gave a furious reaction to Manchester United’s 1-0 defeat at home to ten-man Everton - full story here!
Newcastle United
Davide Frattesi is a target for Newcastle United as he faces an uncertain future at Inter Milan ahead of January. (Tuttomercatoweb)
Real Madrid
Dean Huijsen’s injury is worse than initially expected in a further blow for Real Madrid. (Marca)
Tottenham
Tottenham are eyeing up talented young defender Lautaro Rivero from River Plate, but he could already have an asking price as high as €100m, while Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are also interested. (El Desmarque)
West Ham United
West Ham United are interested in signing highly-rated 19-year-old VFL Bochum defensive midfielder Cajetan Lenz (Sky Sports)