James Milner in talks for new Brighton deal
Gareth Barry currently holds the record for the most Premier League appearances with 653. However, his former Manchester City and Aston Villa teammate James Milner is just behind him on 637. It was starting to look like Milner would not surpass Barry's record, as his contract with Brighton & Hove Albion is set to expire at the end of the season. Although Milner could now be in line for a new deal.
The Athletic's Brighton correspondent, Andy Naylor, posted on X: "Brighton are in talks with James Milner to stretch his stay at the club into a third year. It is not clear yet whether it would be as a player, coach or both."
Milner has made just three Premier League appearances for Brighton this season. He has suffered from thigh problems, which have kept him out of action since September. Therefore, at 39 years old, it could be time for Milner to start focusing on coaching instead of playing. He certainly has a lot of experience that he could pass on to the younger players at Brighton.
Manchester City is interested in Tijjani Reijnders
One of the reasons that Manchester City have underperformed this season is that their Ballon d'Or-winning defensive midfielder Rodri has missed most of the campaign with a cruciate ligament tear. City needs to strengthen their midfield options and is targeting a player from Serie A.
David Ornstein of The Athletic has revealed on X that "Manchester City have contacted AC Milan to express interest in signing Tijjani Reijnders. Talks at early stage + no formal offer yet but MCFC hope agreement will be reached to buy 26yo AC Milan midfielder this summer."
Reijnders can play in both attacking and defensive midfield roles. His Milan side has underperformed this season in Serie A, where they are eighth. However, they have won the Supercoppa Italiana and play against Bologna in the final of Coppa Italia today.
Jeremie Frimpong could replace Trent Alexander-Arnold
Trent Alexander-Arnold is set to join Real Madrid after announcing that he will leave Liverpool at the end of the season. The right-back has been a key player in the Reds' two Premier League titles and their Champions League win in 2019. Therefore, Arne Slot now has the difficult job of replacing him.
Conor Bradley is getting game time in the full-back position right now as Slot prepares for life after Alexander-Arnold. He is better defensively than Liverpool's departing right-back. However, he is not as effective going forward as he has made just one assist, with no goals in 17 Premier League games this campaign.
Liverpool will have to go into the market if they are to find a right-back with similar attacking qualities to Alexander-Arnold. According to MailOnline, "Bayer Leverkusen wing-back Jeremie Frimpong would be very keen on a move to Liverpool should the Premier League champions decide to step up their drive to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold this summer.
"The 24-year-old has a release clause of €35million (around £29.5m) in his contract at the German club and is highly expected to be on the move. Frimpong is on Liverpool's shortlist and they like his profile should they decide to recruit in that position this summer."
It feels like the end of an era for Leverkusen with Xabi Alonso set to depart the German side to become Real Madrid's manager. Frimpong won the Bundesliga under Alonso at Leverkusen last season, but Bayern Munich have beaten them to it this campaign.
Frimpong has been deployed as a right-wing-back in a back three for Leverkusen. However, he would have to adapt to playing right-back in a back four under Slot's system at Liverpool.