Football Briefs: Sarri just wants to have fun at Chelsea

New Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri wants to establish a fun atmosphere at the Premier League club in order to achieve his objectives.

The 59-year-old Italian replaced compatriot Antonio Conte who was sacked, a year after leading the team to the title, after Chelsea failed to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

“My goal is to have fun and be competitive in all the competitions until the end,” Sarri told a news conference on Wednesday.

“If a team has fun, often the fans have fun too. This is very important. We want to reach high-level objectives, but first we must have fun.”

Spanish media have linked Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois with Real Madrid and although Sarri wants to keep the duo at Stamford Bridge, the former banker is happy for the club’s hierarchy to handle transfer business.

“Clearly we would like to keep the strongest players...this is what any manager and club wants to do,” the former Napoli boss added.

“I am much more a pitch manager than a general manager. I am one of the few managers who is bored by the transfer market. Our task as managers is growing the players that we have.”

Pires hails new manager Emery as Arsenal's 'best signing'

Arsenal made their best signing of the transfer window when they appointed Spaniard Unai Emery as their new manager, the Premier League club’s former winger Robert Pires has said.

The north London outfit chose Emery, a former Sevilla and Paris St Germain boss, to succeed long-serving manager Arsene Wenger in May and the 46-year-old has already signed five new players as he overhauls the squad.

“The best signing for me is Unai Emery, the manager. Of course I believe in the players, and especially the new players,” Pires, who played under Wenger for six years between 2000-06, told Sky Sports News.

“He won in Spain. He won in France. He has a lot of experience and I hope for him and Arsenal that he is successful with the club.”

Uruguay international Lucas Torreira and teenager Matteo Guendouzi became Arsenal’s latest arrivals last week, while long-serving midfielder Jack Wilshere left the club earlier this month to join league rivals West Ham United.

Emery took charge of his first match in Saturday’s 8-0 win over fifth-tier side Boreham Wood but will face sterner tests against Spain’s Atletico Madrid and former club Paris St German in a pre-season tournament in Singapore next week.

Sturridge ready to stay and fight for more game time at Liverpool

Striker Daniel Sturridge wants to stay at Liverpool and fight for a starting role under manager Juergen Klopp at the Premier League club, the 28-year-old has said.

Sturridge has been hampered by a spate of injuries during the last few years with the England international passing the 10-goal mark only once over the last four seasons, scoring 13 in the 2015-16 season.

He was loaned out to West Bromwich Albion in January but failed to make an impact at the Hawthorns outfit, failing to score in six appearances for the relegated club.

Local media reports linked Sturridge with a move away from Liverpool but manager Klopp said this week that the striker still has a future at Anfield.

“I see myself staying at Liverpool, hopefully being part of the team week in, week out,” Sturridge told the Daily Mirror.

Sturridge, who was left out of Gareth Southgate’s England team for the World Cup, has played in all three of Liverpool’s pre-season friendlies so far.