🚨 Man Utd flop scores AGAIN, Arsenal chasing Porto wonderkid, Jonathan Tah chooses next club, striker wants Liverpool move, & more

Feb 14, 2025

Good morning folks and welcome to your *FREE* edition of the Daily Briefing! Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoy :-)

Today’s top stories:

What a goal and what a moment for 16-year-old Ajax wonderkid Jorthy Mokio - remember the name! FT Union Saint-Gilloise 0-2 Ajax [Pictures from TNT Sports]

Despite links, there have been no contacts or approaches made by Arsenal over signing free agents up front to cope with Kai Havertz’s injury. Mikel Arteta remains determined to find internal solutions and make an investment on new striker in the summer.
Arsenal’s official statement confirming Havertz’s injury: “The injury will require surgery, which will take place in the coming days. Soon after surgery, Kai will begin his recovery programme until the pre-season preparations for next season.”
Arsenal are expected to make an “important” winger signing one of their priorities for the summer, according to Fabrizio Romano. Full story here!
Could Nico Williams to Arsenal be the winger deal to watch out for? Some sources suggest it’s looking that way…
Rodrigo Mora transfer speculation is growing, with sources indicating that Arsenal are very interested in the 17-year-old Porto wonderkid.

Jonathan Tah has chosen Barcelona for his next club as he prepares to leave Bayer Leverkusen on a free transfer in the summer!
Official, confirmed: Defender Pau Cubarsi has signed a new contract at Barcelona valid until June 2029, agreement sealed and a big boost for Barca.
Deco: “We want players like Frenkie de Jong, hungry for more titles. We want Frenkie here and so for his new contract talks, it will be discussed when the time is right.”
Deco: “We never wanted to sell Ronald Araujo. He’s happy here. If in the future, for whatever reason, there is a need to change, he has the door open to tell us. But I don't think that's what he wants, otherwise he wouldn't have renewed.”
Deco: “We’re very happy with Hansi Flick and we see him happy here. If everything continues as it is, we’ll work to extend his contract. It’s nothing urgent. We keep going.”

Enzo Maresca: “The target with the club was to play Champions League in 2 years, not in one year. Don't forget that in the last two years, Chelsea have never been in the top four. We’re in the right direction. We’ll try our best to bring this club where it belongs.”
A Chelsea statement has confirmed that Nicolas Jackson is facing around 6-8 weeks out injured, with the striker set to return after the international break.
Maresca: “No injury or issue for Reece James. He will be available against Brighton. The plan was always to rest him in FA Cup.”
Maresca: “Marc Guiu has suffered hamstring injury and will be out for a while. Wesley Fofana has started working with us, he could be ready in 2/3 weeks. Romeo Lavia and Badiashile are in the process to return.”
Maresca: “Our goalkeeper at the moment is Filip Jorgensen. I said that the Filip solution was also to give Robert Sanchez time to recover mentally and physically but the idea is not to game by game change the keeper.”
Maresca: “We’re NOT planning to sign any free agent striker, we will work with the players we have. We’re also NOT blocking Deivid Washington’s exit on loan, he’s in talks.”
Maresca: “Playing on Deadline Day is completely wrong. We finished the game at 10pm and the deadline was 11pm. You cannot plan to get injuries to two strikers in the same game.”

Official: Kylian Mbappe is set to return to the France squad for their upcoming international games in March. “He will be part of the squad, yes,” manager Didier Deschamps told L’Equipe.
Deschamps: “Zinedine Zidane as next France head coach? Well, he’s a very good candidate.”

Virgil van Dijk: “For Everton, it was the game of the year. We know that. I told the referee he was giving lots of easy fouls to Everton. And the same type of fouls were not given to us. Quite remarkable…”
Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid transfer is hotting up, according to latest reports!
Alexander Isak wants to join Liverpool this summer despite frequent links with Arsenal - where will he end up?
Milos Kerkez Liverpool transfer talks have taken place, but they face competition for the Bournemouth left-back…
Konstantinos Koulierakis has reportedly been the subject of an enquiry from Liverpool as they look into possibly signing the 21-year-old Wolfsburg centre-back this summer.

Manuel Akanji is set to miss Manchester City’s second leg tie against Real Madrid with an injury. Akanji has been ruled out for a few weeks with a muscular injury.

Barcelona director Deco: “It’s true, we were talking about Marcus Rashford and it was a possible signing… but he couldn’t come. We weren’t desperately looking for a signing. He was not a priority.”
“There were a lot of LIES about my time at Manchester United, but I did cry in my car the day I left!”
Castello Lukeba to Manchester United? Reports are strongly linking the Red Devils with the talented 22-year-old RB Leipzig centre-back, who has a release clause…
Lisandro Martinez completed surgery yesterday as Manchester United staff decided to proceed after the defender’s ACL injury. Martinez’s season is already over, with his aim being to return before the end of the year, though the precise timing will depend on his recovery and rehab progress.

What a goal by Antony as the Manchester United misfit continues his superb form since joining Real Betis on loan! FT Gent 0-3 Real Betis [Pictures from TNT Sports]
Antony: “In my heart I knew that I would be very happy at Betis, I was sure about that. This win goes for the fans, they never stop supporting us.”

Vinicius Junior: “My connection with Mbappe is very good, on and off the pitch. It’s crucial to make great things happen. Playing with top players always makes things easier. It took some time for Kylian to adapt but he’s doing great now.”
Vinicius on City fans: “The banner only gave me more motivation… then they’re fans, so they can do what they want, maybe they should focus more on chanting for their team.”

What a strike by Takefusa Kubo as Real Sociedad picked up an important win in the Europa League! FT Midtjylland 1-2 Real Sociedad [Pictures from TNT Sports]

Michael Noonan made history by becoming the youngest ever scorer in the Europa League - what a moment this was! FT Molde 0-1 Shamrock [Pictures from TNT Sports]