the Daily Briefing - will Brazil star regret Arsenal snub? Kante's Chelsea future, Mudryk's soaring value, and more

Good morning guys and welcome to the latest edition of my Daily Briefing :-)

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Today’s top stories:

• Did Raphinha make a mistake choosing Barcelona over Arsenal?

• Did this underrated star deserve to make the Ballon d’Or top three?

• Which player’s value has shot up since the summer?

AC Milan

AC Milan director Massara on Rafael Leao’s contract: “We’re confident to reach an agreement with Leao and extend his contract. We’ll try to find a solution to proceed with Rafa for long time. His father’s here tonight, we’ll speak during the dinner.”

Arsenal

Should Raphinha have joined Arsenal this summer? I'm not big fan of judging a player’s decisions after one or two months: he’s in a new country, new football, new system, new manager, new club. He needs time.

He's a top player in a top club and so I think it's matter of time for Raphinha to find his feet at Barcelona.

Having said that, he would’ve been the perfect kind of player for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta, who is a big fan.

Aston Villa

The situation for Steven Gerrard is really complicated, I expect updates in the morning on Aston Villa’s decision. On Mauricio Pochettino, three English clubs have already approached him but his priority has always been to wait at least until the World Cup to decide his future. Let's see if Aston Villa will be able to change his mind, but I'm told this is the situation.

Barcelona

Barcelona wonderkid Gavi picked up the Kopa Trophy last night:

🥇 Gavi

🥈 Eduardo Camavinga

🥉 Jamal Musiala

With Arsenal enjoying such a superb start to the season and question marks over Raphinha’s start at Barcelona, I’ve had a few fans asking me if the Brazilian winger made the right choice this summer.

I'm not big fan of judging a player’s decisions after one or two months: he’s in a new country, new football, new system, new manager, new club. He needs time.

He's a top player in a top club and so I think it's matter of time for Raphinha to perform again at top level. He was perfect kind of player for Arsenal but I can say the same for Chelsea - he’s a top talent so I’m sure many clubs would have done well to sign him.

Chelsea

There’s no change on N’Golo Kante’s future - it looks like there’s a serious chance he could leave as a free agent this summer. However, for now there is nothing advanced with Barcelona. The player also wants to stay in London, so let’s see what happens.

Looking back, how did Leicester City spot Kante’s potential before anyone else? They had very good scouting department that trusted Kante when he was in France, they followed him for long time and then... top, top signing.

After just one year at Leicester, Chelsea were really convinced on that deal, and I personally really rate Kante in the top three of the best defensive midfielders of his generation: he's been a monster and I hope he'll be back soon!