Christian Eriksen revealed he snubbed repeated advances from Manchester United before signing up last month.

The Denmark international joined Erik ten Hag's side on a free transfer in July following a short-term stint with Brentford, having left Inter due to medical issues that meant he was no longer able to play in Italy.

The implantable cardioverter-defibrillator he had fitted after suffering cardiac arrest at the European Championship last year counted Eriksen out of a Serie A return to action.

Eriksen excelled with Thomas Frank's Brentford side, scoring once and contributing four assists in 11 Premier League matches, leading to United's interest.

He indicated he had previously spoken to Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer about a potential move, having been admired since first moving to the Premier League in 2013 with Tottenham.

"I've spoken to every manager who's been here at Man United to see what the situation was," Eriksen told ESPN.

"But I was at Spurs at the time and I really couldn't see myself playing in another English team at that time. I went abroad and went to Inter.

"It's been on the books, well, not on the books but it's been spoken about. For me, it wasn't the [right] timing, it wasn't there and I was at a place at Spurs for a long time and I wanted to try something abroad, and I went to Inter and ended up having a lovely time.

"But then obviously something happened in the summer and that changed a bit the career path I had in mind, and then obviously to come back to Brentford first of all and then to be here is something I didn't think could happen a year ago."

Eriksen's impressive form at Brentford led to United battling the London side for his services, but the midfielder denied there was a possibility of a return to Tottenham.

"It was only talk. They never really came with anything, so it wasn't really a thing for me to go back to Tottenham at the time and Man United were very early on, very positive and I had good conversations," he said.

"It was very positive from the first few phone calls already and the club felt like they wanted me, so it was on for a long time."

Jules Kounde has detailed the role Xavi played in bringing the defender to Barcelona from Sevilla, describing how "important" it was the coach was pushing for the deal.

The 23-year-old was long courted by Premier League outfit Chelsea, who were widely reported to be set to secure a deal before Barcelona moved to hijack the agreement.

It was the second time in the window a late Barca move had frustrated the English side, with the Blaugrana beating them to the signature of Raphinha from Leeds United, while they also signed Andreas Christensen on a free transfer from the Blues.

For Kounde, though, the key to his decision was the conversations he had with Xavi.

"I had some good conversations with Xavi, he always expressed desire for me to come here, and that was important for me," he told a news conference.

"This is an important moment in my career, and in the conversations, he asked me to continue to do what I was doing in Sevilla, to continue to be aggressive, bring the ball out from the back, distribute, those are some of my strengths. 

"Barcelona is a great club, very demanding as well, and that's something that Xavi talked to me about."

Kounde's arrival at Barcelona comes as part of a significant recruitment drive from Xavi's side, with Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Christensen and Franck Kessie fellow new arrivals.

However, the France international has an advantage due to his experience of playing in Spain and believes he will quickly settle into the club.

"My knowledge of the league is going to make it easier to adapt as soon as possible, to adapt to the Barcelona style as well," he explained.

"My coach is obviously going to ask me to know my team-mates as well, and that's going to take time, but it won't be a problem.

"There is lots of competition, I think it's very good for the team. It's good to have a lot of competition in each spot; there are lots of games, of course.

"What I have to do here is grow and learn. I'm very young still, and I'm here to help the team at any given moment, whatever the coach asks of me and my team-mates.

"It's good that there is competition, I'm really looking forward to playing, and when there's competition, it's a challenge and that's great."

Bournemouth have completed the signing of versatile midfielder Marcus Tavernier from Middlesbrough ahead of their Premier League return.

Tavernier follows Ryan Fredericks and Joe Rothwell in joining Bournemouth, who begin their campaign at home to Aston Villa on Saturday.

The 23-year-old, who made 155 appearances for Boro, has signed a five-year deal at the Vitality Stadium for a reported upfront fee of £10million.

Bournemouth confirmed the transfer on their website on Monday and chief executive Neill Blake said: "He was one of the standout performers in the Championship last season.

"He has a great pedigree, tremendous energy and is a versatile young player who can play a number of different positions.

"Marcus was attracting a great deal of interest and we are delighted he has decided to join us. Everyone at the club is looking forward to working with him."

Tavernier is comfortable playing in midfield, out wide or up top and scored and assisted a combined 10 goals in 44 Championship appearances last time out.

"I'm happy to be here, it's been a long time coming," Tavernier said. "I'm just delighted to be here now."

Brendan Rodgers insisted Leicester City would not be selling Wesley Fofana to Chelsea and derided Newcastle United's reported offer for James Maddison.

Leicester are the only Premier League club yet to make a new signing with less than a week to go before the start of the season.

With finances said to be tight at the King Power Stadium, a number of key players appear to be of interest to rival clubs.

Chelsea are reportedly considering a move for centre-back Fofana, having lost Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid and Andreas Christensen to Barcelona while missing out on top targets Matthijs de Ligt to Bayern Munich and Jules Kounde also to Barca.

Reports suggest Leicester would only countenance the sale of one of Fofana or Maddison, and Rodgers ruled out the possibility of his top defender departing.

"Naturally, he's a top talent," Rodgers said following Sunday's 1-0 friendly win over Sevilla. "He's not for sale.

"He still has lots of improvements to make. He's very happy here, he really enjoys being here.

"Naturally, he will attract the interest of other clubs. Our job, in not signing anyone so far, is to at least keep the players we have. I know that's the intention of the club."

Rodgers was slightly less firm on Maddison's future, although he suggested the £40million fee Newcastle were said to be willing to pay fell well short of the midfielder's value.

Newcastle have also been linked to Maddison's team-mates Youri Tielemans and Harvey Barnes, while they last season targeted Rodgers himself before appointing Eddie Howe.

"He's still very much a player here," Rodgers said of Maddison. "Naturally, the players are sought after because they are talents.

"You see his performance, you see how happy he is, and he's not a player we want to sell.

"It's not for me to put valuations on the players, it's not my side, but [£40m] might just cover three-quarters of his left leg, that price. He's a top player."

Another player who could leave Leicester is captain Kasper Schmeichel, who has held talks with Nice.

Lucien Favre, coach of the Ligue 1 club, said over the weekend a potential move was "a real lead" but "not yet done".

Rodgers added: "There's been a little bit of interest over the summer.

"Kasper has earned the right to have a think about the next chapter of his career and where that's going to be. When there's something concrete, we'll sit and discuss it and take it from there."

Mohamed Salah was affected by his contract saga in the latter stages of last season, according to Liverpool team-mate Virgil van Dijk.

Egypt international Salah signed a new deal at Anfield last month worth a reported £350,000 a week, making him the highest-earning player in the club's history.

That brought an end to months of speculation regarding the 30-year-old's future, having himself hinted that he may move away as he entered the final year of his previous deal.

Despite Salah finishing last season as the Premier League's joint-top goalscorer alongside Son Heung-min, Van Dijk believes the contract standoff took its toll on the Egypt star.

"At the end of the season, from maybe April until the end, there was a lot of talk about his contract and stuff," Van Dijk told The Telegraph. 

"We're all human beings and maybe that affected him a little bit, unfortunately."

The 118 Premier League goals Salah has scored since his first Liverpool campaign in 2017-18 is 13 more than next-best Harry Kane.

Former Chelsea forward Salah scored 27 goals in his first 31 appearances for the Reds in all competitions last season, compared to four goals in his final 20 games.

He was on the scoresheet from the penalty spot in Saturday's Community Shield win over Manchester City, and Van Dijk has backed his colleague to continue scoring regularly.

"He still showed high levels and quality and he played with a free mind and obviously he's happy to be here and I think everyone is happy to be here," the Dutchman said.

"He showed it already for the last three years. He's under the microscope all the time. He created that himself. He's such a good player and shows that consistently all the time."

Chelsea are showing they still have plenty of business to take care of during this transfer period, with reports they will make significant bids for Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong and Leicester City's Wesley Fofana.

De Jong has been a central figure in transfer news since the season ended, locked in an ongoing saga with Manchester United after they finally met Barcelona's asking price, only for the 25-year-old Dutch international to reveal he has no interest in heading to a club outside of the Champions League.

Meanwhile, Chelsea have been outgoing about their desire for another quality centre back to bring in along with Kalidou Koulibaly, and after Barcelona swooped in at the 11th hour to land Blues target Jules Kounde, Fofana is the new hot name in their hunt for a long-term solution in the middle of defence.

TOP STORY – CHELSEA PREPARE BIG-MONEY BIDS FOR DE JONG AND FOFANA

In the immediate aftermath of Barcelona securing Kounde, reports came out that Chelsea were then unwilling to do further business with the Spanish giants, withholding Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta.

However, that seems to have changed as Sport is reporting the Stamford Bridge side will make a bid for De Jong, who Barcelona value at €80million, and if a deal can be made, Barca will then immediately use some of those funds to sign Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva.

For the 21-year-old Fofana, who has represented France at the under-21 level, Leicester reportedly value him at £85m after recently locking him down on a five-year contract expiring in 2027. Paris Saint-Germain are also said to be interested in the Foxes' defender.

ROUND-UP

– The Athletic are reporting Chelsea have also put out a feeler for 26-year-old Inter defender Denzel Dumfries, while Sport Italia's Rudy Galetti claims they are also discussing Milan Skriniar.

– According to the Daily Mail, Newcastle United have turned their attention to Leicester winger Harvey Barnes after having their bid for James Maddison turned down.

– Manchester United are reportedly weighing up moves for 25-year-old Stuttgart striker Sasa Kalajdzic and RB Salzburg 19-year-old Benjamin Sesko, with the latter said to be valued at over £50m.

– ESPN are reporting that if Manchester City cannot land Brighton left-back Marc Cucurella, then they will pivot to Borussia Dortmund's Raphael Guerreiro, who has 56 international caps for Portugal.

– Ekrem Konur has revealed that Aston Villa face stiff competition in their pursuit of Bodo/Glimt right-back Alfons Sampsted, with the 24-year-old Iceland international also drawing interest from Bayer Leverkusen, Lyon and Lazio.

Liverpool will carry out checks on Curtis Jones after the midfielder missed the 3-0 friendly defeat to Strasbourg on Sunday due to a mystery injury.

A day on from Liverpool beating Manchester City 3-1 in the Community Shield, a largely second-string XI lined up at Anfield for the visit of Strasbourg.

Two goals from Adrien Thomasson and one from Habib Diallo condemned the hosts to a defeat in their last match before the Premier League season gets under way.

Klopp had planned on using Jones, who made just a fleeting appearance off the bench against City, but revealed the 21-year-old had a problem that would need further examination.

It remains to be seen whether Jones is fit to play any part when Liverpool launch their league campaign at Fulham on Saturday.

"Curtis, we have to see. [There] was no impact or whatever, so that always makes it a bit, 'My god, what could it be?'," Klopp said.

"We had no time; he felt it today and he wanted to play desperately, but then the medical department said no and that we needed to make further tests. We will do that tomorrow and then we will know more."

Klopp was also without midfielder Naby Keita, who was described by the manager as "ill", while centre-back Ibrahima Konate came off injured in the second half against the Ligue 1 visitors.

Addressing what was wrong with Konate, Klopp said, quoted on Liverpool's official website: "We don't know exactly yet on Ibou, but it doesn't look too concerning, so I hope we caught it in the right moment."

Pep Guardiola sees no reason why Manchester City should not be confident ahead of the new season, despite their Community Shield defeat to Liverpool.

City lost 3-1 to Jurgen Klopp's side at the King Power Stadium on Saturday, suffering defeat in the season's traditional curtain-raiser for the second year running.

Guardiola's team had more of the ball (57.3 per cent), more shots on target (eight to four) and registered a higher expected goals total (2.27 to 2.03), but Liverpool seemed the sharper of the two sides as they claimed the trophy for the first time under Klopp.

It was just the second Community Shield clash between the clubs, with the head-to-head record now tied at 1-1 after City's penalty shoot-out victory at Wembley Stadium in 2019.

Seven of the past eight Community Shield matches between the league champions and FA Cup holders have now been won by the cup winners, with the exception being City's 2-0 win over Chelsea in 2018.

While it was a day to forget for City – and specifically new signing Erling Haaland, who cut a frustrated figure throughout and hit the crossbar from six yards out in second-half stoppage time – Guardiola has no doubts about the campaign ahead.

"There is no reason not to be confident," Guardiola told a news conference. "What these guys have done, not just in the Premier League, but the cups, in Europe, many things.

"I don't know what is going to happen at the end of the season, but I am pretty sure I know these guys and they haven't given up for one second.

"We lost a final, we prefer to win. A lot of respect, credit to the opponent. The standard is what it is, we reach this standard as quickly as possible and maintain it, maintain it as always."

Asked how close he felt his side were to peak performance, despite having played only two pre-season friendlies prior to facing Liverpool, Guardiola replied: "Close. We did very good things.

"I don't feel, because we know each other so well, that we are far, far away. But at the end, the games against West Ham and, after, Bournemouth will dictate our level, how we are doing, and in the process, we will correct, we will improve; [if we] have to do it that way or the other way, it is going to happen."

While Haaland toiled, Julian Alvarez impressed from the City bench, scoring their equaliser before Mohamed Salah's penalty and Darwin Nunez's header settled the contest in Liverpool's favour.

Yet City's other new arrival, Kalvin Phillips, was not brought on for a competitive debut.

Guardiola was not concerned that being left out would negatively impact the England midfielder's confidence, however.

He said: "No, [Phillips] has confidence. He can play, he is ready to play. He arrived just two weeks ago.

"In that position, we have Rodri, Bernardo [Silva], [Ilkay] Gundogan. Step by step, he will get it. He is an incredible person. There are many games, he is going to help."

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag hailed the performance of Lisandro Martinez, who he believes will form an impressive partnership with Raphael Varane.

The Argentine made his debut for the club during the final pre-season match, a 1-1 draw against Rayo Vallecano at Old Trafford, and caught the eye alongside the World Cup winner.

Martinez is a player Ten Hag knows well following their time together at Ajax, and United's boss hinted that the centre-back could establish himself as Varane's partner for the season ahead, which could cast further doubt on Harry Maguire's status as a first-team regular.

"It was a really good combination with Rapha. They played solid that's good to see. He integrated quite well into the team," he told MUTV.

United goalkeeper Tom Heaton was equally impressed by the performance of his new team-mate.

"That's been the case all week, I really enjoyed playing with him today. I think he'll be top, top player for the club," Heaton told MUTV.

"I thought he was outstanding today and I'm sure everyone is looking forward to watching him play this year.

"I think [his height] has been talked about a little unfairly. What he brings, his physicality, how he uses his body, his leap, what he gives you in terms of manoeuvrability and all the ball and personality wise, I think he will add an awful lot to the team.

"Even this week, you can see already what he brings. He brings that larger than life personality, I think he was excellent today and I look forward to hopefully playing with him more this year."

Manchester United begin their Premier League campaign against Brighton and Hove Albion on August 7, then tackle Brentford before a huge clash against Liverpool later next month.

Cristiano Ronaldo made his first Manchester United appearance under Erik ten Hag in the final pre-season match against Rayo Vallecano ahead of the new campaign.

The 37-year-old has made his desire to leave United before the close of the transfer window at the end of August clear but has found suitors for his services difficult to come by.

Having missed the squad's pre-season tour of the Far East and Australia due to family reasons, Ronaldo was once again absent for the defeat against Atletico Madrid in Oslo on Saturday.

It was confirmed, however, that Ronaldo would feature in Sunday's friendly against Rayo Vallecano at Old Trafford - with the former Real Madrid and Juventus star named in the starting line-up.

Ronaldo played the first half at Old Trafford before being replaced at the interval by Amad Diallo, who promptly opened the scoring immediately upon his introduction.

With just 45 minutes of pre-season football under his belt, Ronaldo seems unlikely to play the entirety of Manchester United's pre-season opener against Brighton and Hove Albion next weekend.

Ten Hag has already made that clear, saying on Saturday that he was not "on the level" of his teammates.

"I cannot tell in this moment [how fit he is]. He is not on the level of the rest of the squad because he missed a lot of weeks. But he needs games and he needs training, a lot," he said following the defeat to Atletico.

Roberto Firmino does not want to leave Liverpool, seemingly dispelling any suggestion he could join Juventus.

Serie A giants Juve had been linked with making a move for Firmino, who has just one year remaining on his deal at Anfield.

Previously a guaranteed starter for Jurgen Klopp, Firmino's place in Liverpool's starting XI is no longer assured, with Diogo Jota having excelled since his arrival from Wolves and Darwin Nunez signing from Benfica.

Sadio Mane also filled in centrally for much of last season, with Luis Diaz having taken up a place on the left, but the Senegal forward has now departed for Bayern Munich.

With Jota sidelined through injury, Firmino – who scored just five league goals last season – started in Liverpool's Community Shield clash with Manchester City on Saturday, which the Reds went on to win 3-1.

Afterwards, Firmino told TNT Brazil he has no intention of leaving Liverpool.

"I love this team, city and [the] fans," the 30-year-old said. "I'm here at Liverpool, and I want to stay, of course."

Firmino played 59 minutes against City at the King Power Stadium, having one shot and creating one chance. 

He was replaced by Nunez, who played a pivotal role in Liverpool's victory, winning a penalty that Mohamed Salah converted to put the Reds back in front after Julian Alvarez's equaliser, before scoring late in stoppage time.

Nunez became the fourth player under Klopp to net on his Liverpool debut – after Mane, Salah and Virgil van Dijk.

Klopp had previously emphasised Firmino's importance, saying on Thursday that the former Hoffenheim attacker was "the heart and soul of this team".

Manchester City's Julian Alvarez hopes to offer Pep Guardiola's side "different solutions" this season, having marked his competitive debut with a goal.

The forward netted a second-half equaliser for City in the Community Shield against Liverpool at the King Power Stadium, cancelling out Trent Alexander-Arnold's opener, though Jurgen Klopp's side would go on to win 3-1 thanks to Mohamed Salah's penalty and Darwin Nunez's late header.

Alvarez's goal saw him catch the eye in what was otherwise a disappointing attacking display from City.

The 22-year-old had just two touches inside the box during his 32-minute spell off the bench, but was a livewire down the right-hand side after replacing Riyad Mahrez, and his goal saw him become the third Argentine to score in the Community Shield, after former City stars Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez.

Signed for a reported £14million from River Plate in January, then loaned back to the South American giants until the end of last season, Alvarez will likely be a supporting member of the City cast in the year ahead due to competition from Mahrez, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Erling Haaland, though the latter endured a domestic bow to forget in Leicester.

Premier League rule changes now mean that managers can utilise five substitutes off the bench, however, which should see Alvarez earn more opportunities, and he has vowed to use his versatility to offer alternative options for Guardiola.

"Obviously, I'm very happy for scoring my first goal with City, but that stays aside because it wasn't the result we wanted to start the season winning the trophy," he told City TV.

"Always I try to give my best in training, I've shown I can play different positions at my clubs and with the national team.

"I can offer alternatives to the team with this versatility, I can offer different solutions and I want to give my best to help the team."

City's attention is now cast towards the start of their Premier League title defence, which begins away to West Ham on August 7, and Alvarez is confident it will be another successful campaign despite Saturday's defeat to their rivals.

"It's tough, obviously we didn’t want to start this way. We don't like to lose. We need to keep working," he added.

"It's going to be a good season to fight for all the trophies and we need to carry on working this way.

"Liverpool have shown in the last years how good they are. They're a great team with great players. So [are] City.

"It was a good test to start the season, we played well and played at a good level but we need to keep working to get the results."

Virgil van Dijk told Darwin Nunez to get his "head down, work and be important" for Liverpool after the striker's decisive cameo performance against Manchester City.

Nunez came on with just under an hour played in Saturday's Community Shield clash between the Premier League champions and the FA Cup winners.

He made a telling impact, winning a penalty when his header struck the arm of Ruben Dias to enable Liverpool to restore their lead through Mohamed Salah after Julian Alvarez had cancelled out Trent Alexander-Arnold's opener.

Nunez, signed from Benfica for a fee of £64million (€75m), with a further £21.4m (€25m) in potential add-ons, capped off a 3-1 triumph for Jurgen Klopp's side with a header late in stoppage time.

The 23-year-old had been the target of criticism and social media jibes following some sloppy performances early in pre-season, though Nunez scored four in a 5-0 rout of RB Leipzig last week and slotted in seamlessly to Liverpool's attack at the King Power Stadium.

Van Dijk shrugged off the criticism of his new team-mate, who the defender explained is already an important player in Liverpool's squad following the departure of club great Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich.

"He's important. He's difficult to play against and hopefully he can show it for the rest of the season," Van Dijk told reporters.

"We all help him in some ways and make sure that he's comfortable, he's calm and just work, and don't focus on what the outside world has to say because everyone has to say something these days. So head down, work and be important for the club.

"I don't speak Spanish, so I'm not saying anything to him at the moment, but we have plenty of Spanish speakers in the team and I know for a fact that they help him, and I don't see anything that bothers him at the moment.

"But we will see, everyone has something to say because there are so platforms to do it. So it can hit you but it shouldn't. Just enjoy your game, enjoy the group, enjoy the club, because we are very blessed to be able to play for Liverpool."

It was a sentiment echoed by midfielder Fabinho, who himself took time to settle into the Premier League following a move from Monaco in 2018.

He said: "We saw he's getting better from the first game of the pre-season. He did really well for the team.

"We've had three weeks of training, so now he knows the way we play a little bit. We are learning the way he plays a little bit more.

"We know he is fast, he's strong and he's a proper number nine. He will be in the box, it looks like the ball follows him, he will always get the chance to score.

"So yeah, I think it's really important for him to score in the first official game in a Liverpool shirt. He will be very important for us this season."

Liverpool's victory marked their first Community Shield triumph under Klopp, at the third time of asking.

Including occasions when the trophy was shared, only Manchester United (21) have won the trophy more times than the Reds (16), whose performance delivered a message to rivals City ahead of the new campaign.

Van Dijk, though, knows using the Community Shield display to predict how Liverpool's season could go would be foolish.

"We can't look to the future," the centre-back added. "It's a boring answer but we knew that, for example, two years ago we had so many injuries, those are part of football as well.

"We are focussing game by game. Hopefully it will be a successful season, better than last season. We are excited to crack on, and we will see what the year brings."

Bayern Munich chief executive Oliver Kahn has ruled out a move for another striker, despite the sale of Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona.

The Bundesliga champions have been linked with moves for Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane in recent weeks, although the club have distanced themselves from such rumours.

Lewandowski scored 50 goals in all competitions last season but made it clear he wanted a new challenge in Spain and secured a move to Barca in mid-July.

Speaking after Bayern's 5-3 DFL-Supercup victory against RB Leipzig, Kahn said there was "no discussion" about bringing in another number nine.

"That was strong," he said of the performance to BILD. "You could see how many opportunities we had going forward, how many different formations we had, how surprising we can be, how many good footballers are there, how much speed we can bring into the game with many, many extremely fast players.

"It's the case that we still have options in the current team. [Joshua] Zirkzee is there, [Eric] Choupo-Moting is there, then the young Mathys Tel, who is training incredibly well at the moment. We would also have opportunities there."

Five different players found the net for Julian Nagelsmann's side against Leipzig, including new arrival Sadio Mane, and sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic was pleased to see the variety that Bayern displayed.

"You could see that we are extremely dangerous, that we have many fast and dangerous players," he told BILD. "That's the idea.

"Of course, it's a different way of playing. If the boys do what we envision, I think we can spread the goals on many shoulders."

While Salihamidzic stopped short of also ruling out a new striker arriving at the Allianz Arena, he did hint that the club's incomings may be done for this transfer window, adding: "The transfer market runs until August 31, but usually we have completed our planning by then."

Tottenham midfielder Yves Bissouma is enjoying playing for Antonio Conte, describing the Italian as "crazy, like me".

The Mali international made his first start for Spurs in their final pre-season friendly against Roma in Haifa, Israel on Saturday, which the Serie A side won 1-0 through a Roger Ibanez header.

Bissouma joined Tottenham from Brighton and Hove Albion for a reported fee of £25million in June, and he told the club's website he believes Conte will push the north London side onto the next level.

"I'm very happy to be with [Conte] and this club," he said after the Roma game. "He's living football and I like that. I like a coach like him, and I know he can push the team higher and the players as well.

"We are trying to do what he wants, and every training [session] is not easier, but we are working [hard].

"I like him because he's crazy, like me. But good crazy, because he's crazy of football."

Meanwhile, Conte saw the positives despite defeat to former Spurs boss Jose Mourinho, although Tottenham's head coach was unhappy with the manor in which his team conceded from a set piece.

"For sure, it was a very tough game, but I think it's good in this way, because in one week, we have to start the season," he said. 

"It's positive to have this type of test, a tough test, and to understand if we want to try to be competitive and try to get a win in every game, we have to continue to go strong in every situation.

"The players know we don't want to lose, even in a friendly game. Tonight, we lost due to a detail, because we conceded a goal from a corner, and we have to pay more attention, because if you want to go to another level, you have to take care of the details."