🚨 WATCH Garnacho wondergoal, plus possible Alonso summer move, Arsenal striker target, clubs monitoring Milan wonderkid, and how much is Bellingham worth now?
Today's football headlines all in one place, featuring Arsenal, Man Utd, Real Madrid and more!
Good morning and welcome to another Daily Briefing - thanks as always for reading, and hope you enjoy!
Today’s top stories:
Is Lionel Messi on the verge of separation from Antonella Roccuzzo?
Stop what you’re doing and watch Alejandro Garnacho’s wondergoal!
Plus more from Chelsea, Real Madrid and Tottenham
AC Milan
Francesco Camarda’s parents in tears when the 15-year-old striker entered the pitch at San Siro. AC Milan’s 2008 born talent became the youngest debutant in Serie A history [Pictures from Fabrizio Romano]
Camarda has been well known and monitored by big clubs for some time now - more exclusive insight from Fabrizio Romano here.
Ajax
Steven Bergwijn on Saudi clubs and West Ham interest: “You should ask my agent…Leaving Ajax in January? In football you can never rule out anything…But I am happy here, I have my children and family here.”
Arsenal
Aston Villa
Ollie Watkins scored a superbly-taken winner for Aston Villa as they came from behind to beat Tottenham. How impressive has Watkins been this season? FT Tottenham 1-2 Aston Villa [Pictures from Sky Sports]
Unai Emery’s work at Aston Villa, once again excellent after yesterday’s 2-1 win at Tottenham. That’s now 22 Premier League wins in 2023, and they move up into the top four now on the same points as Liverpool, one from Man City and two from league leaders Arsenal. An excellent team, with an excellent manager.
Atletico Madrid
Koke on his contract expiring in June: “I’d like to play as many games as possible…You know what I think; I’ve been an Atleti fan for my whole life. Hopefully, I can stay here for as long as possible, but it doesn’t depend on me.”
Bayer Leverkusen
Xabi Alonso could be one to watch on the manager merry-go-round in the summer - more from Fabrizio Romano here.
Brighton
Roberto De Zerbi has a €13m release clause at Brighton, but it’s not valid yet - more info in Fabrizio Romano’s column here.
Chelsea
Not the result Chelsea wanted this weekend, so what’s the latest on Mauricio Pochettino’s future?
Reece James: “I take full responsibility for my red card, two silly mistakes. Another lesson for me to learn, I apologise to fans and teammates. The performance was far below our standards but this game does not define us! We’ve made huge improvements against many top teams.”
Nicolas Jackson went on a pre-planned trip to watch his former club Villarreal beat Osasuna and was pictured in the dressing room after the game. Chelsea’s players were given a day off despite Mauricio Pochettino saying he ‘should’ make them train Sunday morning after the defeat to Newcastle.
Chelsea legend Petr Cech made his professional ice hockey debut for Belfast Giants over the weekend! [Pictures from Elite Ice Hockey League]
Liverpool
Alexis Mac Allister admits he nearly fell asleep in Jurgen Klopp’s team meeting before the Manchester City game!
Manchester City
Kevin De Bruyne on his recovery: “It's going well, getting along. Still got a little way to go, but we'll be there…Hopefully I’ll be back something close after the New Year, if everything goes well.”
Manchester United
An all-time great Premier League goal by Alejandro Garnacho - this is one you can watch over and over again! FT Everton 0-3 Manchester United [Pictures from Sky Sports]
Alejandro Garnacho on his goal: “I can’t believe it to be honest. I said: oh my God! I can't believe it to be honest. I didn’t see how I scored, I just listened to the crowd… it's still November, but probably one of goals of the season.”
Erik ten Hag on Mason Mount’s injury: “He’s a top professional. He’s working very hard in training. We can look for reasons for that. There are reasons, I think he had moments where he did very well. But I think that stopped when he got injured.”
Ten Hag: “You [the media] are telling me all the time bring this player in, bring that player in – you have to match the FFP rules. So you have to do it and do it within those rules. You have to construct the best squad possible.”
Ten Hag: “You saw how great a captain Bruno is. He could see, feel that his team-mate needed that goal… he had confidence in Rashy, he told him: take that ball and take your confidence. As a team, you need that. We will always need this kind of leadership.”
The Sky Sports panel discussed that Garnacho goal and compared it to Wayne Rooney’s famous strike in the Manchester Derby - which one do you think is better?
Ten Hag on Kobbie Mainoo’s debut: “We have to develop players. Kids have to deserve it. It was painful for us when he got a bad injury in pre-season but now he's back. He's a good boy, very mature. He showed it today. I like him.”
Nice
34-year-old manager Francesco Farioli keeps going with clean sheets in a row at OGC Nice! following yesterday’s 1-0 win today vs Toulouse. That’s now ten clean sheets this season, and only four goals conceded in Ligue1. Nice remain undefeated in Ligue 1 and just a point behind leaders PSG.
Nottingham Forest
Results need to improve soon for Steve Cooper amid talk that he’s under pressure at Nottingham Forest - more details here from Fabrizio Romano.
Olympiacos
Former Estoril sporting director Pedro Alves will be appointed as new Olympiacos director. Agreement on the verge of being sealed as Pedro Alves is ready for new chapter after great job at Estoril.
Real Betis
Magical footwork from Isco for Real Betis last night! FT Real Betis 1-0 Las Palmas [Pictures from Viaplay Sports]
Real Madrid
Jude Bellingham has scored again! That’s now a remarkable record of 14 goals and three assists in 15 games so far this season.
Bellingham looked a bargain for Real Madrid right from the start, but how much is he worth now?
Carlo Ancelotti on Real Madrid plans for goalkeepers: “Lunin has been ready but Kepa will be back for Granada and if he’s ok he will play.”
River Plate
Argentina gem Claudio Echeverri has €25m release clause included into his contract — it could go up to €30m. 2006 born top talent scored an hat-trick vs Brazil U17, he’s on the radar of multiple clubs. El Diablito’s current deal at River Plate expires in December 2024.
Tottenham
What a strike this was by Giovani Lo Celso to give Tottenham the lead against Aston Villa. FT Tottenham 1-2 Aston Villa [Pictures from Sky Sports]
Ange Postecoglou: “Not happy with the defeat but as a manager I saw loads of positive things today today. The players did a great job in playing the way we want to play football, but it's about fine margins. It’s disappointing outcome, of course.”
Union Berlin
Nenad Bjelica has signed in as new Union Berlin head coach, done and sealed. Raul was never close to become the new manager as he wanted to continue at Real Madrid.