🚨 Wirtz SCREAMER, Endrick winner, Sven's fulfils emotional LFC dream, €200m Barca bid, plus could Arsenal rival Liverpool for midfielder?
Today's round-up, featuring Germany & Brazil goals, plus latest Arsenal, Man Utd, Barca & Liverpool transfer news...
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:
WATCH this superb goal by Florian Wirtz as Germany beat France!
Plus more from Barcelona, Liverpool & Man Utd
Arsenal
Kai Havertz continued his fine recent form, with the Arsenal forward netting this well-taken finish against France. FT France 0-2 Germany [Pictures from ViaPlay Sports]
Could Arsenal rival Liverpool for the Manu Kone transfer this summer? Fabrizio Romano takes a look in his latest exclusive column.
Donyell Malen to Arsenal could be one to watch this summer, says Christian Falk in his exclusive column.
Aston Villa
Leander Dendoncker is set to return to Aston Villa in June as Napoli are not planning to trigger €9m buy option. Dendoncker only played 21 total mins in Serie A since joining in January.
Atletico Madrid
Arthur Vermeeren on playing less than 90 mins since he joined Atletico Madrid in January: “Going from Antwerp to Atletico is not a small thing. I have to be patient. It’s not easy but I’m just preparing at my best, then depends on the manager. I’m working hard to be 100% ready.”
Austria
Christoph Baumgartner scored this superb solo goal yesterday and it’s thought to be officially the fastest ever goal scored at international level! FT Slovakia 0-2 Austria [Pictures from ViaPlay Sports]
Be the first to read EXCLUSIVE NEWS ARTICLES from me, Fabrizio Romano, Christian Falk, Neil Jones, Ben Jacobs, Jonathan Johnson, Charles Watts and Matteo Moretto!
Barcelona
Barcelona president Joan Laporta: “I think both Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix will continue at Barca next season. I hope Atletico won’t create any issue. I don’t think Man City will put any limit to that. For sure it will be an extension of loans with a fixed price.”
Laporta: “We’re receiving crazy bids for players like Lamine Yamal around €200m and we’re rejecting, of course. We trust Lamine and we don’t need to sell. We received bids for Balde, Fermin, Pedri, De Jong, Araujo, Gavi… we don’t want to sell our stars.”
More here from Fabrizio Romano on Barcelona’s plans amid big bids for their stars.
Laporta: “We don’t want to sell any big player. If all goes to plan with our goals, we won’t be forced to sell any player. Of course is someone wants to leave, we won’t stop them; but I’m not worried at all with that, we want to keep same squad.”
Laporta: “Frenkie de Jong is super happy here. The last thing he wants is leaving Barcelona. He always told me that he loves to be at Barca and we’re delighted with Frenkie too. I’m not worried with his future, at all.”
Raphinha has been linked with clubs in Saudi Arabia, but could he still stay in Europe?
Ronald Araujo: “My future? There’s always a lot of talk and rumours, but I’m very happy at Barcelona.”
Bayer Leverkusen
Florian Wirtz on his future: “My focus these days is on the national team. And after that I still have a lot of plans with Bayer Leverkusen. I don’t know what Xabi Alonso will do but my plan is clear.”
Fabrizio Romano has more info on Florian Wirtz’s future in his column here.
Could Xabi Alonso stay at Leverkusen until 2026 and then move to Real Madrid? Christian Falk takes a look in his exclusive column.
Bayern Munich
Could these Bayern Munich stars be leaving this summer? Fabrizio Romano addresses the speculation in his exclusive column.
Gareth Southgate: “Harry Kane will return to Germany for treatment on ankle injury. He won’t be ready to play against Belgium on Tuesday.”
Brazil
Endrick has become the youngest ever player to score a club/country goal at Wembley, aged just 17 years, 246 days. He’s also the youngest player to score for Brazil since Ronaldo ‘Fenomeno’ in 1994. FT England 0-1 Brazil [Pictures from Channel 4]
Endrick: “It’s incredible, I was playing videogames on career mode and I also scored on my first game for Brazil... here in Wembley. I kept thinking about it! It was nice. This is just an unbelievable memory for me.”
Chelsea
Ferran Torres to Chelsea? Reports suggest this deal could be one to watch.
England
Kobbie Mainoo: “Special feeling making my senior England debut at Wembley and in front of my family. A moment I will never forget.”
Gareth Southgate: “Harry Kane will return to Germany for treatment on ankle injury. He won’t be ready to play against Belgium on Tuesday.”
Southgate on Kyle Walker’s injury: “We don’t know yet. He is feeling something but he is not a player who is injured very often so he’s not quite certain what it is. So it is something we have to assess in the coming days.”
Fiorentina
Fiorentina will not trigger the buy option clause for €20m to sign Arthur Melo on a permanent deal. The Brazilian midfielder is set to return to Juventus in June with talks to follow in order to find a new solution.
Germany
What a goal this was by Florian Wirtz after just seven seconds as they beat France! FT France 0-2 Germany [Pictures from ViaPlay Sports]
Julian Nagelsmann on Toni Kroos: “Unbelievable, to be honest. With the ball, we all know that he is an extraordinary player. But also how he got involved in duels. He’s quite a normal guy and integrates into the group. That’s very good.”
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Juventus
Fiorentina will not trigger the buy option clause for €20m to sign Arthur Melo on a permanent deal. The Brazilian midfielder is set to return to Juventus in June with talks to follow in order to find a new solution.
Liverpool
Sven-Goran Eriksson said he always wished to be Liverpool manager one day, and here he at Anfield as he fulfilled his dream in yesterday’s Legends game…[Pictures from LFC/X]
Manchester City
Girona winger Savio made his senior international debut for Brazil at Wembley. He already has a deal in place to join Manchester City in July, as previously revealed.
Joan Laporta when asked about Erling Haaland rumours: “We don’t need any big signing. There will be movements but I don’t anticipate big ones, just team players. Our priority is to trust the team we have right now, we don’t want to sign players who could distort our harmony.”
Gareth Southgate on Kyle Walker’s injury: “We don’t know yet. He is feeling something but he is not a player who is injured very often so he’s not quite certain what it is. So it is something we have to assess in the coming days.”
Manchester United
Kobbie Mainoo: “Special feeling making my senior England debut at Wembley and in front of my family. A moment I will never forget.”
Could Manchester United launch a transfer swoop for this Real Madrid star?
Sofyan Amrabat could leave Man Utd and these two Serie A clubs are interested…
Napoli
Napoli activate the clause for the contract extension of Alex Meret until June 2025, one more year. Deal extended after 70% appearances this season. Talks will follow in the next months as Meret won’t leave as a free agent. New deal to be agreed or he could be sold this summer.
Leander Dendoncker is set to return to Aston Villa in June as Napoli are not planning to trigger €9m buy option. Dendoncker only played 21 total mins in Serie A since joining in January.
PSG
There’s a PSG injury worry ahead of their Champions League clash with Barcelona…
Real Madrid
Real Madrid are confident of keeping hold of Toni Kroos for one more year - more here from Fabrizio Romano.
Real Madrid’s board and manager Carlo Ancelotti, with his staff, both believe that Andriy Lunin has still huge potential as he could develop even more in the next years. That’s why Real have prepared a new deal proposal and will insist to extend his contract.
