🚨 Man City CRUISE to Club World Cup title, Villa FAIL to go top of EPL, Suárez and Messi reunite, ten Hag positive, ESL woes continue and more

Today's football headlines, featuring the Super League, Man United, Chelsea, Man City and more.

Dec 23, 2023

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

Al Nassr

Cristiano Ronaldo has now 51 goals and 15 assists in all competitions in 2023. 21 games, 21 goals and 10 assists for Al Nassr this season.

Arsenal

Mikel Arteta wants to end Arsenal’s hoodoo at Anfield this weekend [pictures from Hayters].
Brentford set to make ‘final decision’ on Ivan Toney replacement amid Arsenal interest [TeamTalk]

Aston Villa

In a huge surprise result, Aston Villa could only draw 1-1 with Sheffield United. It meant that they didn’t leapfrog Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table, and it took a 97th minute equaliser from Nicolò Zaniolo to save their blushes after Cameron Archer had given the Blades an 87th minute lead [pictures from Sky Sports].

Unai Emery plans blockbuster signing for Aston Villa in 2024 [Football Insider]

Bayern Munich

Jamal Musiala was asked about his future: “My current contract expires in June 2026, everything is relaxed and calm. I feel very good at Bayern now, same with the squad and with Tuchel.”

Chelsea

Mauricio Pochettino said that Reece James retains Chelsea’s total support after yet another hamstring injury which is likely to see him out of action for three to four months [pictures from Sky Sports News]

The Chelsea manager also let rip at players and their agents who have moaned that they are “disappointed” when they’re not playing [pictures from Sky Sports News].

Reece James’ surgeon Lasse Lempainen: “I am very convinced that Reece will be in top shape before Euro 2024. Chelsea will decide on how long he takes, but more likely we are talking about three to four months.”
Si Phillips on why Pochettino MUST utilise FBs and take the game to Wolves.
Pochettino: “Enzo is going to be out of the game against Wolves. It was a hernia and he also didn’t feel well. He will receive treatment from the doctor and I think he is going to be back with the group as soon as possible.”
Could Chelsea really sell Conor Gallagher? Fabrizio Romano has some exclusive insight.

Inter

Inter are still working on deal to sign Mehdi Taremi as a free agent in June 2024 as Porto want to keep him in January. Inter wanted him last summer and they will try to push again for next season.
Lautaro Martinez: ‘Forced to stop after 89 games in a row’

Inter Miami

Luis Súarez has signed the formal contract as a new Inter Miami player. All done and sealed. One-year deal plus option for a further season. Messi, Suárez, Busquets, Alba are back together. Here we go, confirmed.

Luis Suárez: “I’m very happy and excited to take on this new challenge with Inter Miami. I can’t wait to get started, and I’m ready to work to make the dream of winning more titles with this great club a reality.”

Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp explained his post-match West Ham comments in his pre-match press conference for the Arsenal match after it appeared some of what he said was taken too literally [pictures from Sky Sports News].

Klopp on Andy Robertson: “It's a short time until he will back, we hope January.” Alexis Mac Allister and Diogo Jota are both out of the Arsenal fixture but Ryan Gravenberch is expected to be available.
Jurgen Klopp urged to sign Premier League ace who he called his ‘favourite’ player [Liverpool ECHO]
Klopp on busy fixture list: “How is that fair? Why can’t they look at that, whoever is doing it? For once, put your shirt away and just think about general football problems. Somebody has to change. They say: ‘Well yes but you signed the [broadcasting] contract,’ but it has nothing to do with that.”

Manchester City

Julián Álvarez set Man City on their way to becoming Club World Cup champions for the first time by chesting a goal home after just 40 seconds [pictures from TNT Sports].

Thanks to another goal from him on 88 minutes, as well as an own goal and one from Phil Foden, the 4-0 final score was a fair reflection of the dominance of Pep Guardiola’s side.

Coincidentally, when Pep Guardiola won the Club World Cup for the first time with Barcelona in 2009, the winning goal was chested home by Lionel Messi.
Manchester City have sealed a deal to sign Finlay Gorman as he’s passed his medical — here we go. All agreed with Leeds, official in January. One more for Academy and their long-term strategy, led by Thomas Kruecken with assistance of head youth scout Sam Fagbemi.
Julián Álvarez has won his 14th trophy… and he’s still just 23: Liga Profesional, Copa Argentina, Supercopa Argentina, Trofeo de Campeones, Copa Libertadores, Recopa Sudamericana, Copa América, Finalissima, World Cup, Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.

Manchester United

Erik ten Hag remains positive about the strength of his squad and says they will be “much stronger” in the new year [pictures from Sky Sports News].

Over 100 jobs expected to go at Man United as Sir Jim gets down to business [Football Insider]
Fabrizio Romano has a significant update on Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s partial takeover.
Man United target remains “fully focused” but his future is not with current club [Fabrizio Romano]
Ten Hag on Rasmus Højlund: “His mentality is great and he is a very good performer under stress. If you can score in the Champions League then you can score in the Premier League.”

Napoli

Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis spoke about various matters arising: “We will sign at least three players. One CB, one right back, one midfielder. It could also be two midfielders… I spoke to Florentino Pérez about the Super League and we agree on meeting with other entrepreneurs to discuss about future plans. Football is being managed by old people with no vision… I spoke to Luis Enrique for three days (about the managers job), we almost reached an agreement in June but then he rejected it as he wanted a huge salary. I also spoke to Nagelsmann but no way. Thiago Motta was our main target but he said no… We have sold Elmas, it’s all done — he always wants to play so we decided to let him go... We are in talks with Zielinski but he is from Poland, he doesn’t care about sun and sea. Maybe he’s more used to some fog.”
Tottenham tell Napoli and Juve the only condition to sign Højbjerg [Sky Sports Italy]
The agreement between Napoli and Victor Osimhen on a new deal is 100% done and confirmed. It will be sealed before Christmas, it’s imminent. Contract until June 2026. Huge salary rise for Victor. Release clause also confirmed. He’s expected to stay in January.

Newcastle

Eddie Howe on a deal for Lewis Hall: “Chances of Hall staying at the club for the long-term? Absolutely. His transfer is complicated and he hasn’t quite hit the criteria. But he’s part of our long term plans, he’s working well.”
Howe also discussed the latest injury issues the Magpies have ahead of their weekend fixture against Luton [pictures from Sky Sports News].

Real Madrid

Carlo Ancelotti gave his opinion on the European Super League: “This decision is important for football. Some clubs are not convinced but I think this can be a positive thing for everyone. The fact that there is no monopoly will be positive. Time will tell if this is a good thing.”

RB Leipzig

Eljif Elmas to RB Leipzig, here we go! Agreement has been reached between clubs, personal terms already agreed. Napoli will receive €25m fee as revealed on Tuesday. He will travel to Germany in the next hours — early morning flight booked in order to undergo medical tests before signing the contract in the afternoon.

Super League

Liverpool become the latest club to say NO to the European Super League, following similar declarations of intent from Arsenal, Chelsea, Man United, Atlético Madrid, Bayern Munich, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, Roma, PSG, Monaco, Real Sociedad, Inter, Copenhagen, Atalanta, Man City and Tottenham.

Tottenham

Ange Postecoglou wants his players to learn from their experiences as he discussed Spurs’ poor disciplinary record in his pre-match press conference [pictures from Sky Sports News].

Transfer Window

Ben Jacobs, Angus Scott and Fabrizio Romano with a full preview on The Debrief podcast of the biggest names and clubs rumoured to be moving — or to be making moves — in January.

Villarreal

Villarreal are considering Eric Bailly as an option, and are working on a new centre-back for the January transfer window. Bailly is prepared to leave Besiktas.