Exclusive: Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing – Ronaldo’s Ten Hag talks, Tottenham plans, Arsenal midfielder link & more

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Hello everyone and welcome to today’s Daily Briefing, featuring the latest Arsenal transfer news, Chelsea transfer rumours, and more.

Arsenal

I’m aware that there’s been some speculation about Weston McKennie being a target for Arsenal, but I’m told there are no talks. We’ll see if that changes in January, but I’m also not sure he’s the type of player Mikel Arteta needs, they could do with someone more dynamic in the middle of the park.

Bayer Leverkusen

There’s some talk again of Patrik Schick being an option for Manchester United. He was one of the players scouted under Ralf Rangnick, but now there are still no contacts ongoing. I think he’s very talented player, but needs to be more consistent; for sure, he could be a good option for many big clubs in the Premier League.

Bayern Munich

Lucas Hernandez on his potential return to Atletico Madrid: “If there will be opportunity to return someday, why not? Atleti gave me everything, I wish them all the best”.

Bayern Munich, however, remain determined to tie Lucas Hernandez to a new contract in the near future.

Chelsea

Chelsea’s rebuilding continues. Joe Shields appointment is 100% done and sealed, his move from Southampton will be made official soon.

Monaco technical director Laurence Stewart will also join the Chelsea recruitment team, while Christopher Vivell talks are progressing well.

Callum Hudson-Odoi on his future: “I don’t know what the future holds. Obviously, at the end of the season I’ll go back to Chelsea regardless and we’ll see what happens from there. That’s where I’ve always been since I was a kid.”

Chelsea are still following Josko Gvardiol after seeing a bid turned down in August, but RB Leipzig have previously suspected Manchester City could also join the race next summer.

Juventus

Arsenal are not working on a deal for Weston McKennie as of today; then we will see in January. He was a target for Tottenham one year ago, nothing happened as Juventus never wanted to let him go on loan.
Weston McKennie in action for Juventus

No changes on Massimiliano Allegri’s situation. Juventus won’t sack him and he won’t leave, despite another disappointing defeat to Benfica. Andrea Agnelli confirmed his intention to continue with Allegri, whose current deal expires in June 2025.

Angel Di Maria: “My big dream is to return Rosario Central. It’s my dream since long time — it’s not easy but I’d love it. Players in Argentina dream of future in Europe, while I dream of return to Rosario Central.”

Leeds United

The Leeds United board is still backing Jesse Marsch as of today, so no news on a replacement, despite some speculation about his future and replacements. Let’s see the next performance in Premier League as they are strongly supporting Marsch.

Manchester United

We know how complicated things got for Cristiano Ronaldo last week. He left Old Trafford early in the Tottenham game, so Erik ten Hag decided he had to be dropped. He decided together with the board, and Ronaldo was left out of Ten Hag’s squad for the Chelsea game.

Cristiano understood it was not the best way to act. It’s important to mention he’s now back in contention for the first-team, we will see him get an opportunity again. He’s 100% available. But what happened with his talks with Ten Hag? I’m told they have been in constant, direct contact, and it was positive. Ronaldo was really sorry, but also Ten Hag understood the player wanted to be involved more. They spoke about it, they had multiple conversations, and they decided to shake hands and now Ronaldo is back in the United first-team.

We will now see if Jorge Mendes will continue to try to find a club for Ronaldo in January, but we know it won’t be easy to get such a big deal done in the middle of the season. United would also have to find a new striker, and again it’s not easy to find top players in January.

Overall, I’m told that all the people in Manchester United think that Ten Hag handled this incident very well, board included.

Napoli

There’s speculation again about Cristiano Ronaldo and Napoli, but I’m told they had some talks in the summer and were interested in signing him on loan. Still, it was a complicated negotiation and it was never advanced. Today there are no negotiations, Napoli are not in for Ronaldo, as of today.

It’s also worth remembering that Napoli have three options up front at the moment, but only play with one striker. They are also performing very well, so I’m not convinced there is a great need for them to sign Ronaldo.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s father Badri: “He’s not focused on Premier League links or new contract, at all – and no one told us of new deal negotiations.”

Palmeiras

16 years, 3 months, 4 days. Born in July 2006 (!), Endrick becomes the youngest player in the history of Palmeiras to score a goal with the first team.

Top European clubs are fighting to sign him. €60m release clause into his contract.

Endrick, remember the name.

PSG

Brazilian jewel Endrick’s camp on PSG links: “No proposal has been made by Paris Saint-Germain, they didn’t send €20m bid. PSG have been in love with Endrick for long time.”

Shakhtar Donetsk

It’s pretty clear now why Shakhtar Donetsk have turned down €30m bid in August for their talented winger Mykhaylo Mudryk. He’s a really top talent who’s worth more than €45-50m, according to Shakhtar.

Mykhaylo Mudryk looks one of the best young talents in Europe

Tottenham

Tottenham will try to support Antonio Conte as they also did in the summer. In January they will try to find a solution for players that are not playing regularly; there’s a chance for new signings, for sure.

Villarreal

Signed, confirmed. Quique Setien has been appointed as new Villarreal head coach to replace Unai Emery. The former Barcelona manager has signed until June 2024, an official club statement confirms.

Fabrizio Romano’s World Cup Dream Team

Here we go! It’s almost time for the World Cup, and that means I’m continuing to build my Dream XI of players at the tournament.

Today, I’m adding Theo Hernandez to the left-back position, not easy as I also love Alphonso Davies. I follow Serie A closely and he’s doing incredible for AC Milan, I’m a big fan!

My line up so far: Thibaut Courtois, Ruben Dias, Virgil van Dijk, Theo Hernandez

More Stories Angel Di Maria Antonio Conte Cristiano Ronaldo Endrick Fabrizio Romano Jesse Marsch Josko Gvardiol Khvicha Kvaratskhelia Lucas Hernandez Mykhaylo Mudryk Patrik Schick Quique Setien Unai Emery Weston McKennie