Man Utd target gets Brazil call-up, bid for Van Hecke
Football writer Ben Bloom provides your round-up of the latest Premier League news and transfer speculation on Monday 8 June.
Brazil call up Man Utd-bound Ederson
Manchester United already have 13 players heading for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. But they could soon potentially have a 14th after Ederson was belatedly called up to the Brazil squad.
Widespread reports suggest Man Utd have agreed a move with Serie A side Atalanta, with the deal expected to be completed before the end of the month.
That timeframe might now shift though, with Ederson given the nod to replace the injured Wesley in Brazil’s World Cup squad.
Ederson, 26, won the last of his three Brazil caps in March 2025. Having begun his career in his native country, he has spent the last four seasons at Atalanta, with whom he won the 2023/24 UEFA Europa League.
Man Utd are looking to replace Ederson’s fellow Brazilian midfielder Casemiro, who departs the club this summer after four years in Manchester.
Brighton reject second Spurs Van Hecke bid
Brighton & Hove Albion have rejected a second bid from Tottenham Hotspur for centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke, the club’s chief executive has confirmed.
The Netherlands defender joined Brighton from NAC Breda in 2020 and has one year remaining on his current contract.
“There’s always going to be a lot of interest in our best players, and certainly in the case of Jan Paul,” Brighton chief executive Paul Barber told talkSPORT.
“We’ve been very clear that interest has been ongoing for a while. It’s coming from multiple sources.
“Yes, we have rejected a bid from Tottenham [Hotspur] over the last week or so. In fact, two bids.
“From that point of view, it has to be right for us as well as the player. We have to be in a position to make the best trades to suit our model and also to make sure that we’re supporting Fabian [Hurzeler], because he’s got another big season ahead of him.”
A potential move to north London has received the seal of approval from Van Hecke’s Dutch team-mate and fellow centre-back Micky van de Ven, who has spent the last three seasons at Spurs.
“I did talk to Jan Paul about the club for a bit,” said Van de Ven at a press conference in New York. “I think it is a good step for him.”
Spurs signed Andy Robertson last week and are reportedly closing in on AFC Bournemouth centre-back Marcos Senesi. According to Sky Sports, Spurs are also considering making an offer for Manchester City winger Savinho.
Former clubs send Eriksen support
Christian Eriksen’s former Premier League clubs have sent their best wishes after the Denmark international collapsed during an international friendly with Ukraine.
The game was abandoned after the incident in the second half, with Eriksen able to walk off the pitch having regained consciousness. Denmark were leading 2-1 at the time.
The former Man Utd, Spurs and Brentford midfielder was fitted with an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) – a type of pacemaker – after suffering a cardiac arrest during a UEFA European Championship match in 2021.
Denmark team doctor Morten Boesen confirmed on Monday morning that Eriksen is “in good spirits” and the “expectation is that he will be discharged soon and can return home”.
Eriksen currently plays for German club Wolfsburg. Spurs sent him their best wishes; during a six-and-a-half-year spell with them, he made 226 Premier League appearances, he scored 51 goals and produced 62 assists.
Man Utd — a club where Eriksen spent three seasons — also said they are “sending strength and love” to the Dane and his family.
One in 250 people aged 14-35 have an undiagnosed life-threatening cardiac condition.
The Fulham FC Foundation have announced a partnership with Cardiac Risk in the Young, through which people aged 18 to 35 will be offered free heart screenings at Craven Cottage this summer. Find more information here.
Robinson scores screamer, but Mazraoui in doubt
It will take something special over the coming weeks for anyone to score a better goal for their country than Fulham defender Antonee Robinson, who concluded the United States’ World Cup preparations with a screamer in a friendly against Germany.
After a corner was headed out of the penalty area, the ball sailed in the direction of Robinson, who unleashed a left-foot volley into the top corner from 22 yards.
Watch: Robinson’s incredible goal v Germany
“Going into a World Cup, it means a lot to have in my mind that I’ve scored something like that and a bit of freedom to shoot again if I’m in that position,” Robinson said.
The goal was not enough to prevent the US slipping to a 2-1 defeat after Arsenal’s Kai Havertz had put Germany ahead and former Manchester City player Leroy Sane added a second goal.
A host of other Premier League players also scored in friendly fixtures over the weekend including Sunderland’s Wilson Isidor (Haiti), Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard (Norway) and Leandro Trossard (Belgium), Man Utd’s Bruno Fernandes (Portugal), Nottingham Forest’s Dan Ndoye (Switzerland) and Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes (Brazil).
Meanwhile, there are doubts over Noussair Mazraoui’s World Cup fitness after the Man Utd defender departed the pitch just 29 minutes into Morocco’s final warm-up fixture against Norway.
The full-back was part of the Morocco side that reached the 2022 World Cup semi-finals. The severity of his issue is currently unknown.
Le Bris: Europe will be an exciting challenge
Regis Le Bris has explained how his pre-season ambition of keeping Sunderland in the Premier League shifted after a 1-0 victory over Leeds United at the start of March.
Although they were tipped by many to make a direct return to the Championship, Sunderland climbed to 11th place in the table with that win over their fellow promoted club. They eventually finished seventh, qualifying for the UEFA Europa League and earning Le Bris a nomination for the Premier League Barclays Manager of the Season award.
“At the start of the season, the only target was survival and we set a target of 40 points,” Le Bris told The Telegraph. “It wasn’t like a mantra or a number we were too obsessed with, but it was clear.
“Then, after the game against Leeds, we decided to speak about our vision as a club. We thought that we should be consistent around 10th in the table. Then, if you can stay around those positions and some of the big clubs are not at the top then maybe you can be close to a European place.”
The test for Sunderland in their 2026/27 campaign will be to balance Premier League duties with European commitments.
“It’s going to be different because, on average, a team who starts [the season] in Europe is supposed to lose 10 points in the league,” said Le Bris. “So it’s a big challenge.
“We’ll need three or four more consistent players in different positions, so that we can manage the schedule. And it’s clear, we need to recover quickly, we need to prepare quickly, we need to debrief quickly. So it’s going to be challenging. But it’s not boring and everybody should be excited.”