🚨 Mbappé latest, Toney STAYS, Calvert-Lewin controversy, Sancho move almost done, Mourinho no-go, Arsenal kit shock and more
Today's round-up of the biggest football headlines, featuring Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea and much 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:
Juventus’ definitive Vlahovic update amidst reported Arsenal interest
New deals activated for three Man United stars; two more in talks
Ajax
Georges Mikautadze leaves Ajax and re-joins on a loan deal valid until June — with €10m buy option clause included.
Arsenal
Arsenal will be breaking with tradition this weekend and wearing an all white kit at home for the first time in their 138-year history. The kit will be worn vs. Liverpool as part of their ‘No More Red’ campaign against knife crime.
Sporting director of European giants says Arsenal target is “not for sale” in January [Fabrizio Romano]
Atlético Madrid
Nahuel Molina will sign a new deal at Atlético Madrid later this year, it’s all verbally agreed — as revealed in November. The release clause could even be higher than initial €70m after a final round of talks, perhaps closer to €100m.
Former Atlético man signs a €1 per week contract [AS]
Barcelona
Barça director Deco: “No player is going to leave in January. Aleix García? We like many players but signings do not depend on us, we have to generate Fair Play. If we generate it, we will see.”
Barcelona left it late to beat Las Palmas, Ilkay Gundogan winning and then scoring an injury-time penalty in a 2-1 victory that the Catalans scarcely deserved [pictures from beIN Sports].
Xavi: “João Cancelo’s knee injury doesn’t look serious. We hope it’s just a knock, we will know more tomorrow about it.”
Bayer Leverkusen
Bayer Leverkusen’s stance on Jeremie Frimpong is very clear: no intention to sell him or any other player in January. Top clubs want Frimpong but it’s one for June as €40m release clause will become active in the summer. The clause is NOT valid in January.
Benfica
Official, confirmed. Benfica sign Marcos Leonardo as a new striker on an €18m deal from Santos, contract until June 2029.
Bournemouth
Bournemouth are set to bid for LDU Quito midfielder Óscar Zambrano. The initial proposal will be $5.5m in order to sign the Ecuadorian midfielder.
Brentford
Turkish talent Yunus Emre Konak will join Brentford from Sivasspor, deal in place for £4m. Final details being sorted then all done.
Thomas Frank announces Brentford have no plans to sell Ivan Toney in January: “Yes, he’s staying. He is a Brentford player. I can’t see why we would sell him and I would love to have him for a longer time. It needs to be an unbelievable price so he will stay here.”
Chelsea
Si Phillips has a very interesting update on the future of Brentford’s Ivan Toney.
Official, confirmed. Chelsea midfielder Alex Matos joins Huddersfield for the remainder of the season.
Eintracht Frankfurt
Internacional have signed Lucas Alario on a permanent deal from Eintracht, agreement sealed and official.
FA Cup 3rd Round
No goals in the match between Crystal Palace and Everton, meaning the game goes to a replay, with the main talking point in the match being Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s controversial red card [pictures from ITV Sport].
FC Juárez
Costa Rica defender Francisco Calvo has agreed to join Liga MX side FC Juárez, done deal. Two year contract for former Konyaspor Kulübü centre-back now ready for a new chapter in Mexico.
Girona
Girona’s Pere Guardiola on Aleix García and Barça: “We don’t want him to leave. Barcelona never approached us. We have not received any proposal and our plan is to continue with the same team.”
On head coach Míchel: “Bayern? In case Bayern send him a proposal, I will take him to Munich by car. He deserves to be the owner of his future, we’re grateful. In case a top club arrives and he wants to go, he will be free.”
On Arter Dovbyk: “We’ve not received any proposal from Chelsea despite recent links. We don’t want to sell anyone.”
Inter Milan
Tajon Buchanan completed medical tests as a new Inter player after agreement in place with Club Brugge.
Mkhitaryan: ‘Juventus want to put pressure on Inter and Milan’ [Gazzetta dello Sport]
January Transfer Window
With the window opening, Ben Jacobs and Angus Scott welcome in Fabrizio Romano, Tom Bogert and Sam Matterface to discuss the depth and breadth of prominent transfer rumours being mentioned. They dive into the latest transfer news from Manchester United, Spurs, Chelsea, Arsenal, Real Madrid and more.
Juventus
Juventus director Giuntoli: “Bid from Arsenal for Dusan Vlahović? We don’t know anything about that story, there’s nothing. Vlahović is NOT for sale.”
Giuntoli on Adrien Rabiot - out of contract in June 2024: “We want to keep our best players. We are very optimistic to agree on a new deal with Adrien, we will discuss about that in the next months. The relationship is excellent.”
Giuntoli: “Kalvin Phillips or Pierre-Emile Højbjerg? In this moment we don’t see any opportunity on a technical and financial point of view. We are not forced to sign a new player, we only look for correct opportunities and we can’t see anyone as of now.”
Youthful Juventus on the rise [Football Italia]
Luton Town
Fulham and Crystal Palace are now following Luton Town’s Teden Mengi. He’s a leading U21 player with the highest percentage of defensive duels won in Europe’s top five leagues this campaign.
Manchester United
Official: Sergio Reguilón is returning to Tottenham after Man United activated the break clause in the loan agreement.
Manchester United have activated new deal options for Lindelof, Hannibal and Wan-Bissaka. “We are talking with Raphael Varane and Anthony Martial,” Ten Hag says.
Could Raphael Varane be lining up a return to Lens? Jonathan Johnson offers some exclusive insight into the Frenchman’s next move.
Jadon Sancho’s travel arrangements to Marbella to join BVB training camp are being prepared — and final details are being discussed with Man United. Fee will be around €4m between loan and salary coverage.
Ten Hag: “We had a long meeting with INEOS and it was positive, very positive. On many issues, we are on the same page. It was very positive, I think, on both sides. It was a very constructive meeting. They have good ideas.”
Marseille
Marseille are advancing on the Lucien Agoumé deal and are now close to getting it done. Loan with option to buy clause from Inter, deal at the final stages.
Napoli
Gio Simeone could be one to watch in late January. He could leave Napoli as he’s currently struggling with game time despite his performances. Relationship with Napoli remains good but it’s an open situation.
Napoli and Udinese are now close to reaching final agreement for Lazar Samardzić. Negotiations underway as Napoli hope to get the deal done by next week. The agreement between Samardzić and Napoli on image rights is also at the final stages.
Politano and Napoli now consider Al-Shabab offer [Sky Sport Italy]
Paris Saint-Germain
Jonathan Johnson has some exclusive and extensive insight into what’s going on in the Kylian Mbappé saga.
Do PSG still retain an interest in Man City’s Kalvin Phillips and how likely is it that a deal will happen in January? Jonathan Johnson has more.
Roma
José Mourinho: "Brazil didn't call me to become the new coach. I told my agent: don't speak to anyone as long as I'm AS Roma manager. I trust AS Roma owners 100%. I always informed them including when Portugal called me... and when Saudi club called me last summer."
It’s over at AS Roma for director Tiago Pinto and they will part ways at the end of the January transfer window. The contract will be terminated on February 1.
AS Roma will present a final bid in the next 24 hours to sign Dean Huijsen on loan from Juve. Huijsen would extend his contract at Juve for one more year before joining Roma on loan.
Shakhtar Donetsk
Shakhtar Donetsk are closing in on a deal to sign Palmeiras’ 20-year-old winger Kevin. Agreement at the final stages between all parties involved.
Tottenham Hotspur
Postecoglou: “Micky van de Ven has trained this week. Not sure about the match but he might be involved in the squad, it's good to get him back. We have to be careful with Micky but yes, it looks positive.”
Postecoglou: “Maddison is not training with us yet, I don’t know yet when he will be ready. Alejo Véliz will be out for couple of months, he has a significant injury.”
Will Spurs make a move in January for Jean-Clair Todibo? Jonathan Johnson has the latest.
Djed Spence has returned to Tottenham following a loan spell at Leeds United. Spence made seven appearances for the Championship side having joined them on loan in August.
West Ham
Thilo Kehrer has completed medical tests as a new AS Monaco player. Here we go! Deal now agreed as club exchanged documents on Wednesday night. Loan deal worth €500k with mandatory €11m purchase option.
