Arsenal will reportedly launch a move for Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhaylo Mudryk in January, with his price now said to be more negotiable than the initial demand of €100million.
The 21-year-old has been a revelation this season for the Ukrainian club, announcing his arrival with a goal and two assists in a 4-1 win against RB Leipzig to kick off his side's Champions League campaign.
He scored both home and away against Celtic, while also racking up seven goals and six assists in 12 league fixtures, emerging as one of the most talented young forwards outside of Europe's big five competitions.
Earlier reports had claimed Shakhtar would hold out for a fee matching what Manchester United paid for Antony, but new information states that is no longer believed to be the case.
TOP STORY - ARSENAL PLOT JANUARY MOVE FOR UKRAINIAN SENSATION
According to The Athletic, there is a "good chance" Mudryk's move to Arsenal will materialise, with the publication claiming he is "determined to make the Emirates Stadium his destination".
The report says Arsenal will investigate what other deals they could potentially accomplish for a similar fee, but that "interested parties are of the understanding that a lower fee [than the initial €100m demand] would be deemed acceptable".
Adding fuel to the fire is the belief that the Kroenke family are willing to throw their trust into Edu and Mikel Arteta's decisions amid an unexpected Premier League title challenge, increasing the chance of such a significant January investment.
ROUND-UP
– Marca is reporting Arsenal have become the favourites to land 23-year-old Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix in January, providing further indication the Gunners plan on making a splash in the upcoming transfer window.
– According to Sky Sports Germany's Florian Plettenberg, Milan rejected a €70m bid from Chelsea for Rafael Leao, and are holding firm on his €150m release clause with just over 18 months remaining on his contract.
– La Capital is reporting Liverpool have signed a pre-agreement for 21-year-old Benfica midfielder Enzo Fernandez, who is believed to be valued at €100m.
– Paris Saint-Germain are interested in signing 25-year-old Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele, per El Nacional.
– Foot Mercato claims Manchester City have joined Manchester United and Chelsea in the pursuit of 20-year-old Croatia and RB Leipzig centre-back Josko Gvardiol.
Brighton boss Hurzeler predicts swift return for injured O'Riley
Matt O'Riley is in good spirits and could come back "quite fast" as he recovers from ankle surgery, so says Brighton coach Fabian Hurzeler.
Brighton signed Denmark international O'Riley from Celtic last month, but the midfielder sustained an injury on his debut.
O'Riley was on the end of a poor challenge from Crawley Town's Jay Williams, and subsequently had to undergo surgery.
Ahead of Brighton's meeting with Ipswich Town on Saturday, Hurzeler said O'Riley could return ahead of schedule.
"He's in very good spirits. He has a great character, a great attitude, so immediately after the surgery he was very, very positive," Hurzeler said of the 23-year-old.
"He is around us in the training ground, he is doing his rehab already and I think he will be coming back quite fast."
Brighton have made a strong start to the season, going unbeaten in their opening three Premier League matches.
And for new boss Hurzeler, the international break provided an opportunity to reflect on the first weeks of the campaign.
"For me it was time to reflect, to re-analyse the first few weeks," said the 31-year-old, who is the youngest coach in Premier League history.
"I think it is very important to reflect on what is going good so far and where we can improve. That was the first thing I did.
"The second thing was to plan the next phase and the next week because now we have a lot of games in the next period of time. We have a lot of home games so we want to use this chance.
"For me it was more reflection and planning. Of course, I also had one or two minutes for myself."
Brighton v Ipswich will be the 936th different fixture to be played in the Premier League. They met eight times in the top flight between 1979 and 1983 (four Ipswich wins, two Brighton wins, two draws), with the Tractor Boys winning 2-0 in the most recent thanks to goals from John Wark and Alan Brazil.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Brighton - Simon Adingra
Excluding own goals, Adingra has scored five of Brighton's last eight Premier League goals against newly promoted opponents. This accounts for 71% of the Ivorian's Premier League goals (5/7).
Ipswich Town - Leif Davis
Davis was a star for Ipswich in the Championship last season, and he leads the way for the Tractor Boys for chances created (three).
That being said, he will be tested defensively on Saturday, with Yankuba Minteh likely to start down Brighton's right flank.
MATCH PREDICTION: BRIGHTON WIN
Ipswich have had the fewest shots (19), shots on target (seven) and the lowest expected goals total (1.2) of any side in the Premier League so far this season.
And in a run stretching back to March 2002, Ipswich have lost each of their last five Premier League away games by an aggregate score of 18-3. They are winless in their last eight on the road in the top-flight (D1 L7) since a 2-1 win at Everton in February 2002.
Meanwhile, Brighton have won six of their last eight Premier League matches in September (D1 L1), scoring 3+ goals in each of their last four such victories. However, their last September match ended in a 6-1 defeat at Aston Villa.
Brighton have lost just one of their last 13 Premier League home games against promoted sides (W5 D7), going down 1-0 against Fulham in February 2023.
Ipswich have won two of their last four away league games against Brighton (D1 L1), with those wins coming in March 2014 (2-0) and December 2015 (1-0). They had been winless in their previous eight league visits to the Seagulls before this (D5 L3).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Brighton - 65.7%
Ipswich - 15.3%
Draw - 19%
Guardiola backs 'incredible' Lewis to star as hectic schedule begins
Pep Guardiola backed Rico Lewis to play a starring role in Manchester City's quest for a fifth Premier League title after an impressive start to the new season.
Lewis, who has started every game for Guardiola this term, impressed in City's 3-1 win over West Ham ahead of the international break, while he also played the duration of England's win over Finland.
The 19-year-old has filled in for the absent Kyle Walker so far, and Guardiola is confident that his recent form will help the Citizens moving forward as the Champions League group phase kicks in.
"Absolute, absolutely [he's playing well]. Have you seen the minutes he played in the pocket? I said many times, Rico has one incredible ability that for many years, it was difficult to find," Guardiola said.
"Always he is free, always he is alone. When his mate has the ball, I don’t know what he does, but he's free.
"You can pass the ball to him, and not just in positions where it's comfortable, but in positions where the space is so tight, arriving in the third final.
"We all the players ready, because the schedule that comes from now on until the end of the season will be difficult.
"That's what I said. Pre-season is over today. It's over officially. The real season starts after the international break."
But standing in their way are a Brentford side brimming with confidence after comfortably dispatching Southampton 3-1 before the international break to register their best start to a Premier League season.
The Bees also arrive at the Etihad as the last team to beat Guardiola's men on home soil, with head coach Thomas Frank believing his players should take that confidence into their encounter with the reigning champions.
"The feeling after a win is always unbelievable," said Frank. "It's a combination of relief and happiness.
"We performed well and played a good game. We clearly deserved to win. We need to celebrate our wins for 24 hours because in the Premier League, it is so difficult to win."
"Our high press today was absolutely world-class. We were so aggressive, so well organised and the players were so committed."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Man City – Erling Haaland
Haaland has seven goals in the Premier League this season, the most ever by a player in a team's first three matches of a campaign in the competition.
The record in a team's first four matches in a Premier League season is eight goals by Wayne Rooney for Manchester United in 2011-12.
Brentford – Yoane Wissa
Wissa has started the season in fine form, netting in two of Brentford's three Premier League games so far this campaign, but he has found it difficult against the Citizens in the five matches he has played against them.
Of the teams Wissa has faced in the top flight, City are one of six sides alongside Man United, Brighton, Sheffield United, Watford and Norwich he has failed to score against.
MATCH PREDICTION: MAN CITY WIN
Manchester City have won four of their six Premier League games against Brentford (L2), doing the double over them in both 2021-22 and 2023-24.
They have also won all three of their Premier League games this season. They have won each of their opening four matches of an English top-flight campaign on eight previous occasions (1903-04, 1912-13, 1961-62, 2009-10, 2011-12, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2023-24), which is already the most of any club.
The hosts have won each of their last 12 Premier League games, all by a margin of 2+ goals. Indeed, under Guardiola alone, the Citizens are responsible for six of the 16 runs of 12+ consecutive wins by any club in English top-flight history (38%).
However, Brentford remain the last side to win away to City in any competition, triumphing 2-1 in November 2022. The Citizens are unbeaten in 45 at the Etihad in all competitions since (W38 D7).
The Bees have won two of their three Premier League games this season (L1), their best start to a campaign in the competition. In the top-flight, only in 1946-47 have they ever won three of their opening four matches – but that was the only season they were relegated from this level.
But since the start of last season, Brentford have lost more Premier League away games (13) than any side currently in the competition. The Bees have also lost each of their last five away league games against sides that finished the previous season in the top four.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Man City – 82.3%
Draw –11%
Brentford – 6.7%
Ronaldo: 'You cannot rebuild Man United without knowledge'
Cristiano Ronaldo believes Manchester United "cannot rebuild without knowledge" as he urged Erik ten Hag to take advice from assistant coach - and former Red Devils striker - Ruud van Nistelrooy.
United opened the Premier League season with a 1-0 win over Fulham, but then suffered back-to-back defeats against Brighton and Hove Albion and Liverpool.
It is the second time under Ten Hag the Red Devils have lost as many as two of their first three league games in a season (also 2022-23); as many times as in their previous 29 campaigns combined.
United have also scored three goals fewer than their xG suggests they should have so far this term (two goals, 5.2 xG), the biggest such difference for any team in the Premier League.
Ten Hag was recently joined in the dugout by compatriot Van Nistelrooy, who scored 150 in 219 appearances at Old Trafford between 2001 and 2006.
And Ronaldo - the scorer of 145 in 346 games across his two spells - thinks the Red Devils will benefit from the wisdom of people with prior experience and knowledge of the club.
"[As the] Man United manager; you cannot say that you're not going to fight to win the Premier League or Champions League," he told former team-mate Rio Ferdinand on FiveUK.
"You've to say: 'maybe we've not got the potential, but we're going to try'. You have to try!
"If Ten Hag listens to Ruud van Nistelrooy, maybe he can help. He knows the club and the club should listen to the guys who were there [like] Rio, Roy Keane, [Paul] Scholes, Gary Neville, Alex Ferguson. You cannot rebuild a club without knowledge."
United return to action this weekend away at pointless Southampton, against whom they are unbeaten in their last 12 Premier League visits since a 1-0 defeat in August 2003.
The Red Devils have also lost just one of their last 30 Premier League matches against promoted sides, winning 15 of their last 17 such games.
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