This article was originally published on Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing, a subscription service. If you would like to receive Fabrizio Romano’s exclusive transfer news via email ahead of publication on caughtoffside.com, please sign-up for the service here: thedailybriefing.io
Arsenal’s defenders deserve credit in hard-fought draw at Manchester City
It wasn’t a classic between Manchester City and Arsenal yesterday, but still an intriguing tactical contest, and I felt Arsenal defensively are amazing. It was a fantastic performance by William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, with Arsenal limiting City’s chances throughout the game.
Obviously for now it looks like a good result for Liverpool, who beat Brighton earlier in the day, but I also don’t think it’s over for City yet as we know they never give up, and they showed that when they came from five points behind to overtake Arsenal in the title race last season.
As well as Saliba and Gabriel, I was also impressed by Josko Gvardiol, who came in and did an excellent job in a difficult and tense game. There were a lot of changes at the back for City as they started without Ederson, John Stones and Kyle Walker, but the players who came in still did really well.
Ruben Amorim or Roberto de Zerbi for Liverpool?
Liverpool are now top of the table and look to have a slight advantage in the title race after their two rivals took points off each other, but it was also intriguing to see Jurgen Klopp heaping so much praise on Roberto de Zerbi after a narrow win over his Brighton side at Anfield.
Despite the links with De Zerbi as Klopp’s successor, I keep repeating my position on that – I’m told that Ruben Amorim is the favourite option for now. De Zerbi has been on the list for Liverpool for some time as well, but there’s still no development so far. Let’s also see what Bayern will decide to do, but it’s still time for internal talks at Bayern on who will replace Thomas Tuchel, and nothing has been decided yet.
Another name for the Liverpool job coming up in reports is Simone Inzaghi. However, I’m not aware of anything concrete so far on this one, also because Inzaghi is fully focused on Inter and on winning the Serie A title. My understanding is also that Inter will offer him new deal in the upcoming weeks, so the situation is currently quiet; let’s see if he will receive concrete proposals.
Barcelona working to tie Pau Cubarsi down to new deal
Barcelona have sent a formal contract proposal to Pau Cubarsi – they want to extend the contract of their new gem, this top talent who is really impressing in the first-team already, aged just 17.
Barca hope to tie Cubarsi down to a long-term deal with a salary increase, as well as including a release clause in the contract worth €1bn. Now it will be time for negotiations, but obviously Cubarsi is very happy at Barca, while the club are also very happy with this top talent.
The crucial part now will be to reach an agreement, but Barcelona sources are optimistic and feel that this could be done before the end of the season, so keep an eye on this story as talks are ongoing.
Joao Gomes linked with Manchester United – what’s the truth?
It could be an interesting summer at Manchester United, and as usual we have some speculation about players leaving, and who could replace them. The latest is that Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes is supposedly on their list as a potential replacement for Christian Eriksen.
My information for the moment is that Gomes is being scouted by all top clubs in Premier League, it’s something like 4-5 clubs; but Manchester United have not decided yet what they want to do in the midfield. It will be important to understand the board structure before and what’s going to happen with Casemiro and/or Eriksen to understand how Man United’s plan will evolve.
So, while interest from top clubs in Gomes is there, at the moment it’s just scouting, and Man United have not decided their plans yet. It’s still early as having a new director in place will be crucial so they can finalise plans on who to target and how much to spend.
In other news…
Benoit Badiashile – We’re again seeing reports of AC Milan targeting Chelsea defender Benoit Badiashile. AC Milan were interested in January, but there’s no decision yet on what they will do in the summer, it’s still early for AC Milan summer plans apart from decision already made to bring in a new important striker. Also Chelsea have not made any decision on Badiashile so far. We have to see in the summer for this, nothing is really happening now.
Dusan Vlahovic – It’s gone quiet on Dusan Vlahovic recently and that’s because it’s a really quiet situation, nothing is happening so far. No talks, no negotiations, focus on the pitch as Juventus can’t miss on a Champions League spot so it’s crucial to have Vlahovic back at top level in the final weeks. I’m not aware of any concrete talk taking place now.
Andriy Lunin – Real Madrid are now confident of reaching a final agreement with Andriy Lunin over a new deal. Real want Lunin to stay and be part of their project, even if they still expect Thibaut Courtois to be first choice again from next season when he returns from injury.