🚨 Liverpool land Slot, Emery's delight, ten Hag backs Rashford, Chelsea stars 'lack belief,' Man City hearing update and more
Today's round-up, featuring Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea and much more...
Good morning everyone and welcome to the latest edition of the Daily Briefing - thanks for reading, and hope you enjoy! :-)
Today’s top stories:
🎧 LISTEN: The Debrief - Will PSG finally win the Champions League?
Plus more from Arsenal, Bayern Munich, and Liverpool
Arsenal
Martin Zubimendi on Bayern and Arsenal: "I’m happy at Real Sociedad, it’s my home. I can’t say I will be here for the rest of my career, because maybe in the future Real Sociedad won’t want me to continue here. I'm not bothered about those rumours."
Mikel Arteta joked with the media ahead of the North London derby after a supercomputer predicted that Arsenal don’t have a great chance of landing the Premier League title this season [pictures from Sky Sports]:
Arteta on Jurrien Timber set to make the squad after ACL injury: “I can confirm that it’s very close now. We are going to have to make that decision on Saturday.”
Arsenal open talks with 26-year-old first-team star [Daily Mail]
Aston Villa
Unai Emery has expressed his delight at extending his contract at Aston Villa [pictures from Sky Sports]:
Aston Villa keen on attacker with 19 goal contributions this season [Sport Witness]
Atlético Madrid
Atlético Madrid are planning to extend Axel Witsel’s contract for one more season, until June 2025. Nothing sealed yet but positive talks took place.
Atlético Madrid’s summer exodus continues [MARCA]
Barcelona
Rafa Marquez was certain to be Barcelona’s manager next season. Matteo Moretto has an exclusive on what happened behind the scenes in the lead up to Xavi’s u-turn.
Xavi has one priority this summer. Matteo Moretto exclusively reveals what it is.
Girona keen on signing Sergi Roberto this summer [Mundo Deportivo]
Bayern Munich
Bayern’s Uli Hoeneß confirms: “Yes, there are talks ongoing with Ralf Rangnick. I think we will have a decision within a week.”
Thomas Tuchel: “Eric Dier has been an excellent signing. I’m extremely pleased with him. He's absolutely exceeded expectations. He's an extremely important piece of the jigsaw. He's organised, vocal, which we've not had as much. I’m very happy.”
Tuchel on the petition by Bayern fans calling for him to stay: “For me this is a pleasant topic that people want to keep me here. But it has no priority for me. I don't want to take it as an excuse or distraction. We are fully focused on the final games.”
Brighton and Hove Albion
De Zerbi on Ansu Fati's future after being an unused sub vs Man City: "Next season? Ansu Fati is a big, big talent. But I don’t know... I have to speak with Tony, the sporting director, scouts, recruitment team. Then I will speak to Ansu Fati."
Bundesliga club ready to trigger Brighton star’s €20m clause [CaughtOffside]
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!
Chelsea
Chelsea have decided to scrap their u25 rule. What does that mean for the club? Si Phillips has a special exclusive to reveal more.
Chelsea add Carney Chukwuemeka and Raheem Sterling to their injury list as both players are ‘undergoing medical assessment.’
Mauricio Pochettino admitted that his Chelsea players lacked belief in the second half of their match against Arsenal [pictures from Sky Sports]:
Pochettino confirms Cole Palmer will be back vs Aston Villa: “At the end, it's the reality. Cole is a key player for us. He is showing we are struggling a little bit without him. That's a reality we can't hide.”
Mauricio Pochettino: “In the last few months we didn’t speak face-to-face with Chelsea’s owners. We communicate through the sporting directors. My views and feelings have not changed despite not crossing paths with them.”
Pochettino when asked about having the trust of the directors: “That’s a good question for them if you have the opportunity to ask them. If we are [considered] responsible, we are responsible. But maybe we are not responsible. I don’t know what they are thinking.”
Pochettino: “If we are responsible to motivate the players... wow. It's difficult to accept. If you ask me if we need to motivate the players... we have a big problem. I don't believe that's the problem. The problem is the capacity to perform.”
Pochettino: “It looks like [from the media’s point of view] that only I need to prove myself. It's always: ‘the coach needs to prove himself’ but we are all responsible. We all need to prove that we deserve to be here next season, not only me.”
Pochettino: “Enzo Fernández feels pain, he was not playing in normal conditions and so the most important thing is to fix the problem. If he can’t perform, it’s not good for us, for the club and for everyone.”
Enzo Fernández: “My operation was successful, I needed to get this surgery as I’ve had the pain for about six months. It was something I could avoid while constantly treating myself with injections and medication, but a few weeks ago the pain started to get more and more intense, without anything taking effect, and it was worse as I trained and played annoyingly. I didn't want to stop playing in games, and whenever I got to play with Chelsea, like the national team, I always tried to do my best despite all this - but I can't stand it anymore. I will be back soon and stronger.”
Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt have officially triggered the buy option to sign Hugo Ekitike from Paris Saint-Germain. €16.5m fee goes to PSG, in addition to €3.5m loan fee already received. PSG will also have a sell-on clause as part of the agreement.
Fulham
Tosin Adarabioyo will leave Fulham as a free agent at the end of the season. He’s already informed the club., final decision made. Several clubs are keen on signing him.
Inter Milan
Mehdi Taremi’s contract at Inter will be valid until June 2026, two years. It will also include an option to extend until June 2027. It’s all done and completed with FC Porto also informed. Here we go, confirmed.
Inter and Tottenham target flirts with the Premier League [The Telegraph]
Leicester City
Leicester are promoted back to the Premier League after Leeds lost at QPR.
Leeds United
Daniel Farke’s Leeds United side will now have to rely on Ipswich Town slipping up in their final few games after the all whites were surprisingly beaten 4-0 by Queen’s Park Rangers. Goals from Ilias Chair, Lucas Andersen, Lyndon Dykes and Sam Field did the damage.
Liverpool
Klopp on Arne Slot: “I’m not involved, club-wise. I would like a lot if Arne is the one to take the job. I like his team's style, all I hear about him as a guy — good coach. I’d tell him this is the best job in the world. Best club in the world, best people.”
Arne Slot will be the new Liverpool head coach replacing Jurgen Klopp at the end of the season! Agreement sealed on compensation between Feyenoord and the Reds, and also on contract details for Slot. Here we go.
Arne Slot will be the most expensive Dutch coach ever as Liverpool will pay compensation fee around €13m-€15m. Details will be completed on paperwork over the weekend.
Kieran Morrison has signed a new long term deal at Liverpool as expected.
Jurgen Klopp confirms key Liverpool duo to miss West Ham clash [Liverpool.com]
Manchester City
Premier League CEO Richard Masters: “The hearing into Manchester City's 115 charges will take place in the near future.”
Pep Guardiola spoke about Phil Foden not needing to play in ‘sixth gear’ all the time in the aftermath of Man City’s win over Brighton [pictures from Sky Sports]:
Pep Guardiola not ruling Liverpool out of the title race.
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Manchester United
Ten Hag: “Mason Mount is expected to be back in the squad to face Burnley. I think we will see Shaw, Martinez and Martial all in the season. They all returned onto the pitch and are progressing well.”
Erik Ten Hag defended Marcus Rashford over his poor form this season in his pre-match press conference for the Burnley game [pictures from Hayters]:
Ten Hag: “I can see that Man United fans are behind us always. When we entered Old Trafford, I heard the reception. Wednesday was louder than I have heard. Also away: always supportive, backing the team and there is a very good connection between the team and the fans.”
Serie A side set to scupper Man United’s pursuit of ten Hag replacement [Gazzetta dello Sport]
Newcastle United
Eddie Howe confirms my exclusive story on Bruno Guimarães’ release clause expiring at the end of June: "Yes, it's true. We don’t want constant speculation, so there's a sort of finish point. We want to keep him, build our team around him. But we aren’t in control of that so let’s see."
Six players set to leave Newcastle at the end of the season [CaughtOffside]
Paris Saint-Germain
Luis Enrique on Senny Mayulu: “He’s one of the best surprises of the season for us. He’s perfect for my style of playing. He wants to sign a new deal and I’m so happy about that. He will be an important player for us in the future.”
Real Madrid
Ancelotti: "Arda Güler feels good and he's ready, he deserves opportunities and chances to play. He could be on the pitch again soon, I will give Arda minutes."
80 minutes in La Liga, 2 goals for Arda Güler at Real Madrid this season after he scored the winner at Real Sociedad on Friday night.
Arda Güler: “I’m in the best club in the world and I’m super happy. I’m not working only physically, but also on my mentality. I’m waiting patiently, my mentality is to keep improving. I want to thank Ancelotti for the opportunity.”
What are Luka Modric’s intentions after spending much of this season on the bench? Matteo Moretto reveals more.
Florentino Perez considering changing club statutes to allow sale of 49.9% of Real Madrid [El Confidencial]
The Debrief Podcast
Will PSG finally win the Champions League? CBS Football Correspondent Jonathan Johnson joins us this week to look back at the Champions League Quarter-Finals and preview the Semi-Finals next week.
Johnson, along with Fabrizio Romano, have the latest on Mbappe’s announcement and how the end of this season will play out for the French superstar.
Tottenham Hotspur
Richarlison and Pedro Porro, back for Tottenham and available for the North London Derby. Destiny Udogie will be out until beginning of next season, Postecoglou also confirms.
Ange Postecoglou on stopping Arsenal in title race: “We understand the importance of the game. We understand to not let our biggest rival in the biggest derby for us to get on top of us. We understand the consequences.”
Ange Postecoglou again showed his tough side when asked a question he clearly didn’t like by a journalist [pictures from Sky Sports]:
Ange Postecoglou confirms another injury ahead of the Arsenal game [football.london]