Watford

Just going back to that earlier news coming out of Watford.

The club released the following statement on the striker Troy Deeney's future:

"Troy Deeney and senior Watford FC officials are currently discussing the best options for both parties for the season ahead.

"The striker has one year left on his current Hornets deal, and has featured twice from the bench so far this year during this, his 12th season at Vicarage Road.

"Given the significant mutual respect between the club captain and the board, these discussions shall remain private and confidential.

"Neither the board nor head coach Xisco Munoz will offer further comment on this matter until a final decision has been reached."

Brentford

Brentford boss Thomas Frank has also spoken to the media before Saturday's Premier League match away against Aston Villa, who are managed by former Bees boss Dean Smith.

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• There are no new injury worries but midfielders Mathias Jensen and Shandon Baptiste will be assessed;
• Frank is happy with the squad and isn't "desperate" for new signings but hasn't ruled out making additions as they are always "aware of the market";
• He jokes that signing legendary striker Ronaldo wouldn’t fit the Brentford business model as the re-sale value would not be big;
• Dean Smith had a big impact laying the foundations for Brentford, Frank says. The club have lifted lifted it further, he adds, but Smith built "them so me and others could progress”;
• Frank praises Villa's former Bees striker Ollie Watkins, who he still texts once in a while. It was a sad moment when he moved and Watkins was in tears when he left;
• Brentford's unbeaten start to the season has pleased Frank, who says they are in a good place but "there are bits we can do better".

Geoff Doyle
BBC Three Counties Radio sport

Xisco Munoz has been speaking to the media before Watford's Premier League match against Tottenham on Sunday.

Here are the main lines from his news conference:

• There was no comment on club captain and longest-serving player Troy Deeney, who is in discussions with the club about the "best options" for both regarding his future;
• Asked about the qualities of Tottenham midfielder Moussa Sissoko, who the club are linked with, Munoz described him as a "top player, everybody knows";
• The Hornets still have problems in midfield. Juraj Kucka is a doubt, Ozan Tufan is unavailable, Will Hughes is set to join Crystal Palace and Dan Gosling and Nathaniel Chalobah are both still ill;
• He said he understands the difficulty of the match at Spurs, wanting his side to play narrow and stop space He described Harry Kane as a "top, top player".

Manchester City

Image source, Getty Images

Now where were we?

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola went on to say that Kevin de Bruyne remains unavailable for the champions' Premier League clash with Arsenal on Saturday due to an ankle problem. "He is getting better but still is not fit," Guardiola said.

City of course are facing Arsenal side that have lost their opening two Premier League matches, results which have increased scrutiny on Guardiola's former assistant Mikel Arteta.

Guardiola added: "Two games - they have played two games, not 20 or 50 fixtures.

"Sometimes I think we managers are crazy to do the job. "They trust Mikel because they spent money to reinforce the team. Why don't you give more time to the teams to build what they want to build? You need time."

Rest easy Manchester United fans you might not have to scrap the 'Viva Ronaldo' song.

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester United are in talks to sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Juventus. Stop the press.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport

Manchester City have decided not to pursue the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo from Juventus.

It is understood City were offered the chance to sign Ronaldo, who informed his club of an intention to leave over the past 24 hours, but after considering the matter carefully will not be taking the possibility any further.

Wow. Wait until you read this next post or two.

Manchester City

More from Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola on the Harry Kane and Cristiano Ronaldo situations: "The club did absolutely everything but we didn't talk about Tottenham, not even one offer, because they didn't want to negotiate over [Harry Kane].

"When one team doesn't want to negotiate, there is nothing to say.

"I cannot say much so Kane announced he was continuing at his club, an exceptional club like Tottenham and Cristiano is a Juventus player, I think is a Juventus player and I cannot add anything else.

"Only I can say I think there is three or four days left anything can happen but in my personal view there are few players, Ronaldo is included and Lionel Messi, they decide where they are going to play. They lead in the negotiations and right now that is my feeling I am more delighted with the squad I have and we will say the same.

"Cristiano will decide where he wants to play, not Manchester City and not myself. There are many things that right now look far far away. All I can say is we are incredibly fortunate to see and enjoy the best two players in the last 20-30 years. The Argentine and Portuguese guys were amazing in every club. I don’t think we will watch anything quite similar in the future."

Manchester City

Pep Guardiola has clarified comments suggesting he will leave Manchester City when his current contract expires in 2023.

The City manager was quoted this week after speaking at a Brazilian business forum held over Zoom that he would leave the club after seven years at the helm.

The Spaniard has now pointed out, however, that he merely said he will take a break from the game when he leaves City and did not give a date.

Speaking at a press conference, Guardiola said: "I am not thinking to leave after two years. I can leave in two months if the results aren't good or the organisation isn't happy with me. I can leave in three months or five years.

"What I said is after my period at City I will take a break. It can be in one month, two years, five years. Right now I don't have reasons to leave."

Time to hear from Manchester City.

Sounds like there could be a lot of ground to cover here what with Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Kane, Pep Guardiola's departure in two years and Kevin de Bruyne's fitness.

And that's before we get to Guardiola's staunch defence of his former assistant and current Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, who is bringing his team to the Etihad on Saturday after a dreadful start to the season.

Norwich City

Two games in and Norwich are sitting bottom of the Premier League. They will be looking for their first win when they welcome Leicester tomorrow.

Here's Canaries boss Daniel Farke who provides an injury update:

"Christos Tzolis has had calf problems since the last game. We'll assess it in the next 24 hours to see if he's available.

"Minor question mark behind Josh Sargent, who is struggling with some glute problems, but I'm carefully optimistic he will be available.

"Bali Mumba will miss the game. He dislocated his knee from a bad tackle in the last game. I hope he can return after the international break and Przemyslaw Placheta is still struggling after his Covid infection, so we expect him back after the break."

Chelsea

Chelsea have already spent a club-record £98m on forward Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan in this window, but could there be one or two more deals in the pipeline?

When quizzed if Chelsea would make any more signings in this window, manager Thomas Tuchel said: "We still have some ideas and we are trying.

"Not all decisions are taken regarding also our squad. There are some negotiations going on and we are aware of all the situations.

"But also I'm happy with the squad as it is, and I have a lot of confidence we are absolutely competitive on a high level.

"All eyes are open, we are aware of all situations and you never know in football."

Chelsea

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that West Ham are in talks with the Blues to sign Kurt Zouma.

The German reckons he does not know all the details, but the Hammers are understood to be close to a £25million deal to prise the France defender away from Stamford Bridge.

Tuchel also admitted Chelsea will continue to push for new recruits ahead of Tuesday's transfer deadline, with Sevilla's Jules Kounde the likely arrival should Zouma, who has been allowed to return to France due to personal issues, leave.

"There are negotiations between West Ham and Chelsea about Kurt," said Tuchel.

"Kurt right now is not with us but not because of these negotiations. He's had some personal and family issues. There are negotiations but to be very honest I don't know where that leads right now. Those things can happen at this stage."

Two games. No wins. Patrick Vieira probably has a point doesn't he about getting another forward in at Crystal Palace.

Crystal Palace

More from Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira: "This is something (signing another striker) we identified a couple of weeks ago. We knew it would be important for us to reinforce that department. The window is still open and we are trying to improve that department and anything can happen."

When asked about Eddie Nketiah and whether there was any progress he said "not yet."

On the number of players he would like to bring in: "We didn’t fix ourselves any kind of numbers. What we really want is to improve the squad. We just want to find the players that can take the team to a different level."

On the challenge of West Ham: "They are really strong in every department. They played well and have scored goals. We will focus on what they do well as a team."

Crystal Palace

Time to hear from Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira, who takes his team to the London Stadium tomorrow.

Injury news: "No new injuries, Luka Miliovejvic is not ready for the game after being away for personal reasons."

Vieira confirmed that Palace have pretty much completed the deal for Watford midfielder Will Hughes, adding: "He’s a player we know quite well. He’s really comfortable on the ball. I’m really glad and really pleased to have him in the squad. He won't be ready for the game tomorrow. I’m looking forward to working with him in the international break."

West Ham United

West Ham manager David Moyes on his team's goalscoring exploits: "I don't want to have to concede two goals and score four goals every game, but I think the team's getting better defensively.

"I hope that we can have a good defensive structure because to win you have to have a strong defence. The best teams have a good defence and we have to try and get that in place.

"The plan is to keep winning and get a level of consistency. Last year we showed the best level of consistency we've shown for a long time at the club. I think we're up there in 2021 and we've started the season well. The challenge is to keep that going as long as we can."

West Ham United

West Ham manager David Moyes on possible new signings: "If we can - and the team keeps playing the way it is - I'll be even happier, because the team's been excellent, and I think more competition in the squad would help."

West Ham United

West Ham manager David Moyes on his team's start to the season: "I've been really pleased with the results and performances have been good. At Newcastle we did a lot of good things and I thought we played well against Leicester, an excellent team.

"I'm pleased that we scored the goals and to win the games, and if we do that with a bit of style then that's good."

On Michail Antonio's goal celebration after breaking the Hammers' all-time Premier League goalscoring record: "I certainly don't know where it came from. Dirty Dancing or something like that. He's been a cardboard cut-out for a few years so it's great he picked one up. As I said the other day, I really hope he goes on to break the record by 30 or 40 goals."