🚨 Tottenham edge seven goal thriller, Chelsea hit five, Arteta lauds Jesus, Wolves land Pereira and much more
Plus all of the other stories making the news in the world of football...
Hello everyone and welcome to your latest Daily Briefing! Thanks as always for reading, and hope you enjoy :-)
Today’s stop stories:
Manuel Neuer is set to sign a new deal at Bayern until June 2026
Reports that Paul Pogba has been seen at Manchester City’s training ground
Plus more from Liverpool, Manchester United and Real Madrid
Arsenal
Mikel Arteta continued to laud Gabriel Jesus after his hat-trick on Wednesday night. “Gabriel Jesus is a big asset for us,” he said. “I’m so pleased for him. It’s been a long period for him without goals, now he looked very sharp. I think it’s a great thing for him and the team that we can rely on a player of such quality.”
Arsenal eyeing up for 6ft 5in ace.
Bayern Munich
Manuel Neuer is set to sign a new deal at Bayern until June 2026. “The talks are on the right track and it's about clarifying the last details,” director Max Eberl said. “Both sides would be happy when it's done. I can't say yet exactly when.”
Carabao Cup
Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United (4-3): Marcus Rashford didn’t travel with the Man United squad and Matthijs de Ligt wasn’t available for the visitors for the trip to North London, and what a game it turned out to be! Tottenham eased into a three-goal lead thanks to two Dominic Solanke goals and another from Dejan Kulusevski, before two goals in seven minutes from Joshua Zirkzee (63) and Amad Diallo (70) set the game up for a grandstand finish. Son Heung-min scored direct from a corner on 88 to give the hosts some breathing space, but there was still time for Jonny Evans to hit a 94th-minute third for United to ensure a nervy last few minutes [pictures from Sky Sports]:
The draw for the semi-finals was made after the game: Arsenal vs Newcastle and Tottenham vs Liverpool
Chelsea
Enzo Maresca to TNT after the game against Shamrock Rovers: “We don't want to sell players in January… but probably players that are not playing a lot, they might be unhappy and want to leave. Then we will see what happens.”
Maresca: “Don’t forget the age of Marc Guiu. He’s scored 6 goals and he’s the same same as Josh Acheampong. He must keep working hard, he’s just unlucky as Nico Jackson and Nkunku are doing great… January loan? We will see what happens.”
Chelsea already agree terms to sign player in the summer.
Como
Como have approached Royal Antwerp to sign Jean Butez as a new goalkeeper in January. Negotiations are underway.
Conference League
LASK vs Vikingur Reykjavik (1-1)
Chelsea vs Shamrock Rovers (5-1): Marc Guiu was the hero for the Blues with a hat-trick (22, 34 and 45+3), with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Marc Cucurella completing the rout. Markus Poom’s 26th-minute goal for Shamrock was nothing more than a consolation [pictures from TNT Sports]:
Heidenheim vs St. Gallen (1-1)
Panathinaikos vs Dinamo Minsk (4-0)
Djurgârden vs Legia Warsaw (3-1)
Lugano vs Pafos (2-2)
Real Betis vs HJK (1-0): The Spanish giants only just squeezed past their visitors, who managed a paltry two shots at goal all night, compared to 18 from Betis. Johnny Cardoso was the match winner on 27.
APOEL vs Astana (1-1)
Vitória SC vs Fiorentina (1-1)
Molde vs Mladá Boleslav (4-4)
Jagiellonia Bialystok vs Olimpija (0-0)
Celje vs The New Saints (3-2)
Rapid Vienna vs Copenhagen (3-0)
Cercle Brugge vs Istanbul Başakşehir (1-1)
Larne vs Gent (1-0)
Hearts vs Petrocub (2-2)
Bačka Topola vs Noah (4-3)
Borac vs Omonoia (0-0)
Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim are in advanced talks to sign Gift Orban from Olympique Lyon. The agreement is considered to be close as they’re the team working hardest on a deal with Lyon.
Liverpool
Arne Slot had a lot to say about Federico Chiesa’s performance against Southampton: “It's good to see that he's back and that he had a few good moments in the game,” Slot told reporters. "I saw some really good moments and I saw some moments where I felt like: ok you can do better than this. It’s normal.”
Liverpool pushing to secure €30m signing in January.
Manchester City
There have been reports circulating that Paul Pogba has been seen at Manchester City’s training ground, and these are categorically not true, there is no interest in the player.
Man United legend think it’s “brilliant” that Man City are struggling.
Manchester United
Rúben Amorim clearly didn’t want to get into the Marcus Rashford saga any more than he has already. “It’s a hard situation to comment on,” he said to reporters. “If I give a lot of importance to it, it will mean big headlines in the papers and if I say it’s not a problem, then my standards are getting low. So I will deal with that, I understand that.”
Ahead of the Carabao Cup test against Tottenham, Amorim added: “Garnacho is doing really good, he trained really well. He seems a little bit upset with me and that is perfect! I was really, really happy because I would do the same. He is ready for this game.”
More bad news for Mason Mount. “He is out, still injured. He’s really sad,” Amorim noted. “In the dressing room he was really, really sad so we need to help him. When a player is in this moment with a lot of injuries and with this schedule, it’s really hard for them.”
Rúben Amorim: “Harry Maguire is perfect in the middle when you play with three defenders. All the guys defended very well in the derby, not just Harry. They were very focused.”
When asked why Marcus Rashford had been left out against Tottenham, Rúben Amorim said simply: “Selection. I chose the players I felt was ready to cope with the demands of playing a strong game.”
Asked if Marcus Rashford will have a future at Man Utd, Rúben Amorim added: “Of course, he is a Manchester United player”. “Tomorrow we have training, Marcus Rashford will be there, preparing for the next game, and you will see the selection.”
Man United star advised to leave the club for a new challenge.
Real Madrid
Vinicius Jr had some words for his detractors after Real Madrid won the Intercontinental Cup: “Those who did not vote for me (for Ballon d’Or)? Well, I’ll do my best to change their mind,” he said to reporters. “I’m at the biggest club in the world… only a few selected players can play for Real Madrid.”
Real Madrid complete signing of highly-rated teenage defender.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Vitor Pereira has signed in as the new Wolves manager until June 2026.
