🚨 Eberl honest on Arsenal, Soulé dreams of Madrid, Man City agree deal, Amorim impresses, Postecoglou sends a message and more

Today's round-up, featuring Arsenal, Juventus, Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United and more...

Good morning everyone and welcome to the latest edition of the Daily Briefing - thanks, as always, for reading and for signing up to this newsletter. Enjoy! :-)

Today’s top stories:

• EXCL: Today’s exclusive column from Fabrizio Romano

• 🎧 LISTEN: The Debrief Podcast - What do Chelsea need right now?

• Liverpool willing to smash British transfer record…

• Plus more on Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and PSG

Al-Ittihad

• Karim Benzema on his future: “We will see. For me the most important is here for the moment... let's see what happens in the future. There are many news every day. Let's see.”

• Benzema: “I'm not the same Benzema of Real Madrid because it's not the same game, the same players... I need help on the pitch, I need a lot of things. I can't win games alone.”

Arsenal

• Mikel Arteta was delighted with Kai Havertz’s ‘tremendous’ performance against Brighton & Hove Albion [pictures from Sky Sports]:

• Kai Havertz: “I think we are ready for the challenge, we are there and we are up for it. You see it every week that everyone plays at the limit. We can play better but the attitude and work rate of the boys is phenomenal. Everyone puts everything into that game and I think that’s successful right now.”

• Havertz: “Proving the haters wrong is part of the game. There’s always people that don’t like you or speak bad about you”. “I accepted it as you cannot make everyone happy. I try to make myself happy and the people that are important to me.”

• Arteta: “We haven't seen the best of Kai Havertz yet. At his age, he’s just started with us, it’s his first season, he’s building those relationships... He’s got more to come, more games to come, he needs to improve the numbers... and I’m sure he will try to do it.”

• Arsenal’s Premier League record in 2024 now sits at 10 wins, one draw and no defeats, only dropping points away to Manchester City at the Etihad in a 0-0 stalemate.

Athletic Club

• Athletic Club are Copa del Rey winners after penalties against Mallorca!

---

Be the first to read EXCLUSIVE NEWS ARTICLES from me, Fabrizio Romano, Christian Falk, Neil Jones, Ben Jacobs, Jonathan Johnson, Charles Watts and Matteo Moretto!

---

Bayer Leverkusen

• Florian Wirtz has been in red-hot form for Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen this term, amassing a tally of 14 goals and 18 assists in 2023/24 - five of which have come in his last four league games for the club.

Bayern Munich

• Bayern director Max Eberl on facing Arsenal in Champions League: “I don't give a sh*t about the search for a coach. Now it's all about the Arsenal game. We'll face a team that – with all respect to Heidenheim – is a class above them. We have to make a proper turnaround so that we don't get a slap to the face.”

• A huge moment for Thomas Müller who made his 700th appearance for Bayern Munich - the first outfield player to reach this milestone for the incumbent German champions. He’s only nine appearances away from matching ex-goalkeeper Sepp Maier (709), Bayern’s all-time record holder.

• Bayern sports director Christoph Freund on the managerial hunt: “We are in talks to find the new coach. [Julian] Nagelsmann has been here before, it's a special situation. I trust Julian a lot. But there are also other coaches whom I trust. It's important to do the right thing.”

• Thomas Tuchel oversaw Bayern Munich’s sixth league defeat this season in a 3-2 loss to Heidenheim. The Bavarians haven’t lost more than five Bundesliga games in a season since 2011/12. It’s also the first time Bayern have lost to a Bundesliga debutant outfit since 2000. Tuchel’s job is not under immediate threat despite the result, both Christoph Freund and Max Eberl have confirmed the former Chelsea boss will be present at the club’s upcoming Champions League tie with Arsenal.

• Eberl on what to expect from Bayern this summer: “Yes, a lot of things need to be changed.”

Chelsea

• “This is Chelsea, coward!” - Enzo Fernandez had a few choice words for former teammate Mason Mount [ESPN]

• Si Phillips does a deep dive into Chelsea’s new striker shortlist.

Juventus

• Juventus’ Matias Soulé on his dream of playing for Real Madrid: “My dream is to join Real Madrid one day, that would be incredible… My future? I’m talking to Juventus and I still don’t know what’s gonna happen. I didn’t have space to play there and so I accepted a loan move to Frosinone.”

Liverpool

• Liverpool willing to smash British transfer record to sign attacker with 77 goals and 72 assists [Sport]

Manchester City

• Cavan Sullivan to Manchester City confirmed: Deal agreed weeks ago and documents are now being signed with Philadelphia Union. Fee close to $1m plus many add-ons.

• Pep Guardiola: “I'm not thinking about Real game now. If we were 18 points ahead in the PL I'd take two eyes to Madrid, but... no… We're third and not far from top. But if we drop points it'll be almost impossible. Nine months fighting, why should we be distracted right now?”

• Kevin De Bruyne: A big milestone for De Bruyne who registered his 100th goal as a Manchester City player. That makes it 267 goal contributions in 372 games for the Belgian international at the Etihad-based outfit.

---

Our reader-funded model means we can provide you with the most reliable transfer news from football’s most authoritative journalists advertising free, but it does rely on some readers making a contribution by subscribing to the premium content, please try it out by clicking the ‘1 month for Free!’ button below.

---

Manchester United

• Erik ten Hag was asked for his honest thoughts on whether he’d still be Manchester United’s manager next season following Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s arrival:

Newcastle United

• Eddie Howe tells eight Newcastle players they have to leave [Daily Mail]

PSG

• Marquinhos on his future: “I see my future here at PSG. This shirt, this club, this city is my home. I’m ready to help in any possible way and I’d be more than happy to spend the rest of my career at PSG. Yes, retiring here would not be bad!”

Real Madrid

• Thibaut Courtois on his recovery efforts: “At the end of the month, I’ll be training with the group again.”

• Real Madrid absolutely remain 100% committed to Courtois as their first-choice goalkeeper for the next campaign.

Sporting Lisbon

• Viktor Gyokeres’ agent Hasan Çetinkaya is set to take part in a meeting with Sporting with a round of talks to take place over his future. He was present at Sporting’s top-of-the-table clash with Benfica in Lisbon last night. The centre-forward with over 50 goal contributions in 2023/24 should come with a €100m price tag - that is Sporting’s position.

• Ruben Amorim takes his Sporting side closer to the title with a 2-1 win over Benfica thanks to Geny Catamo’s brace.

Torquay United

• Torquay United enter administration following a 10-point deduction [torquayunited.com]

The Debrief Podcast

• The latest episode’s focus is on Chelsea and the club’s immediate needs in terms of results, finances, incomings and outgoings and a new stadium. Here to break it all down is Chelsea expert and football insider for The Evening Standard, Nizaar Kinsella. Fabrizio Romano joins us in his normal spot — updating Chelsea’s key targets for the summer window and weighing in on the latest rumours from around the game. Could Xavi stay at the Camp Nou after all? Fabrizio explains.

Tottenham

• Ange Postecoglou on why he took up the manager’s role with Tottenham: “The main reason I joined Tottenham more than anything else, it hasn’t won anything for a while. That’s why I came. That’s the biggest attraction… It's the PL, I’m earning decent money, high profile, great stadium, facilities... but I love the challenge.”

• Postecoglou: “I do NOT want players who only want to come for Champions League football… Because they don’t want to come to Spurs… they want to go to a Champions League club. I signed [Micky] van de Ven this year — he’s not a bad player is he? And we were in the UCL? No.”

• Postecoglou: “I want players who are gonna say: Spurs are not in the Champions League but if I win something with them, that could mean something for my career and to me. So I’m up for that fight! This is kind of player I want to sign and bring to Tottenham.”