the Daily briefing - Was Mbappe ever close to joining Arsenal? Is Rice a good fit for Liverpool? Ten Hag on Ronaldo, and more!

My exclusive round-up of today's biggest stories, featuring Kylian Mbappe, Declan Rice, Cristiano Ronaldo, and more.

Good morning guys and welcome to my latest Daily Briefing - enjoy!

Today’s top stories:

• Chelsea close to new Director of Recruitment.

• Was Kylian Mbappe ever close to signing for Arsenal?

• Declan Rice’s future at West Ham.

Arsenal

Was Kylian Mbappe ever close to signing for Liverpool? Click to find out more!

📰Arsenal are considering making a move for Frankfurt defender Evan Ndicka (Il Romanista)

Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo: “João Felix is gonna succeed here at Atléti. Mbappé? We have no interest in him, even if he’d have a place in every team.”

“Simeone’s future? Cholo’s our head coach and, God willing, he will be for a long time.”

Barcelona

Xavi Hernandez: “I’m sad and angry. I apologize because it’s everyone’s mistake, we had put it into our heads not to fail, but we did.”

“We tell Barça fans that we will work to turn the table around and win titles.”

Chelsea

Joe Shields is expected to join Chelsea in the next few months as a Director of Recruitment.

Shields was responsible for signing Romeo Lavia, Armel Bella-Kotchap, Juan Larios, and Sam Edozie.

Denis Zakaria was signed by Chelsea in the summer but is yet to make an appearance. When will Chelsea discuss his future? Find out more by clicking here.

📰Chelsea and Manchester City have both made contact with the agent of Napoli midfielder Stanislav Lobotka (Area Napoli)

Lazio

Claudio Lotito: “I’ve no agreement with his agent to sell Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to Juventus or any other club in January.”

“Price tag for Milinković is no longer €100m — his value is €120m now.”

Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp: “Liverpool fans deserve it so much, as they have remained really calm - we are all in this together.”

“Liverpool fans believe in this team. I do as well. I am really, really happy we can send them home happy tonight.”

📰Declan Rice has been linked with a move to Liverpool (Football Insider)

Will Rice be a good signing for Liverpool and will West Ham budge on their valuation? I discuss this situation in detail in my exclusive column.

💬Which Premier League club should be signing Declan Rice? And do you think he will leave West Ham this summer? Tell me YOUR thoughts in the comments!

Manchester United

Erik ten Hag: “I want to support Cristiano Ronaldo as good as possible. I want to get the best out of him.”

“He’s in better shape now and I'm happy with that.”

Will Ronaldo’s lack of game time affect his chances with Portugal in the World Cup? Find out exactly what I think by clicking here.

💬After a lack of game time with Manchester United, do YOU think he should start for Portugal at the World Cup? Let us know!

PSG

Luis Campos: “I speak to Kylian Mbappé every day and he has never told me that he wants to leave the club in January.”

Christophe Galtier: “I didn't have the chance to speak with Kylian about this story."

Real Madrid

Carlo Ancelotti: “If Mbappé will come in January? You have the courage to ask that… I won’t answer.”

Tottenham

Antonio Conte on his feeling about Tottenham: "I have really appreciated how Tottenham have remembered Gian Piero Ventrone, it was special from the club.”

"I've been here with my staff just for 10 months... we can be proud.”

Conte on Dejan Kulusevski:” He's hungry for more and wants to become a top player. It will be a very smart signing for Tottenham.”

"You'll see the real Ivan Perisic soon, give him some time after the injury.”

Valencia

Jose Gaya is set to sign a new deal with Valencia valid for the next five years. Documents are expected to be signed very soon.

Gennaro Gattuso wanted Gaya to stay and considered a new deal a priority. There’s an agreement in principle which should be completed in the coming days.

🔒 (Subscribers Only) Was Kylian Mbappe close to signing for Arsenal? Declan Rice's future and Cristiano Ronaldo's World Cup chances.

My exclusive column, featuring Declan Rice to Liverpool, more on Joe Shields, and Kylian Mbappe.

The future of Declan Rice - would he fit in at Liverpool?

There has been some talk of Liverpool being interested in signing Declan Rice, and one of the subscribers also asked in the comments.

We always have links for Rice and it’s normal - but West Ham insist they want to keep him. It’s going to be an expensive transfer to sign Rice in 2023, nothing has changed.