Portugal international Fabio Coentrao has extended his contract with Benfica by one year until the summer of 2016, the Portuguese champions announced on Monday.
The 22-year-old left-back, who starred for Portugal at the World Cup in South Africa, was reportedly the target of a 20-million-euro transfer bid by Bayern Munich in the off-season.
But the Lisbon club refused to part with the player, for whom they wanted at least 30 million euros.
Chelsea made Kepa Arrizabalaga the world s most expensive goalkeeper when they shelled out £71.6million to sign him in August 2018.
Club director Marina Granovskaia said upon the announcement of his arrival: Kepa is a talent we have admired for a long time and we are extremely excited about his arrival.
He has already demonstrated fantastic quality and consistency and will be a big part of any success Chelsea have in the coming years. His long-term contract reflects the belief we have in him and we look ahead to the coming seasons with an enormous sense of optimism.
Just over two years later, though, and Kepa s long-term future at the club is far from certain, with the Blues having paid £22m to bring in Edouard Mendy from Rennes.
Chelsea said Mendy ha…
Milan Skriniar has revealed he is close to signing a new contract with Inter.
Defender Skriniar has been a standout performer for Luciano Spalletti s side since joining Inter from Sampdoria prior to the 2017-18 season.
The 24-year-old s performances have seen him linked with a move to a host of major clubs across Europe, but Skriniar has now confirmed that talks to remain at Inter are nearing a positive conclusion, insisting he is unaware of how the transfer rumours came about.
While reportedly a target for Barcelona and Real Madrid, the centre-back is only interested in helping his current team qualify for next season s Champions League, starting with a win over Udinese on Saturday.
Very little, Skriniar told DAZN when asked what stood in the way of…
Market: Both teams to score
Odds: 19/20 @
Looking to extend on what has become a remarkable run of form, Hull will make the trip to the Madejski when they face off against Reading on Saturday afternoon.
Starting with the hosts, managing to find what was a real boost on their travels last weekend, there is no doubt that Reading will be desperate to build off of that result. Coming from behind away at Swansea and eventually leaving the Liberty with an action-packed 3-2 win, the Royals also managed to find some breathing room at the foot of the table. Hit with a points deduction last month and now sat just a single place above the drop zone, Veljko Paunović s side will now be looking to improve on their recent issues at the Madejski. Including a 3-2 defeat against…
Thomas Tuchel was overperforming at Paris Saint-Germain this season and did not deserve to be sacked, according to his assistant Zsolt Low.
PSG finally confirmed Tuchel s dismissal on Tuesday after days of speculation, bringing an end to his two and a half year stay at the Parc des Princes.
The German coach won back-to-back Ligue 1 titles in his two full campaigns and also won the Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue and two Trophee des Champions.
Tuchel also guided PSG to a maiden Champions League final in 2019-20, where they were beaten 1-0 by Bayern Munich.
But he endured a fractious relationship with sporting director Leonardo after publicly calling out the club s transfer chief over a lack of spending heading into this season.
1 Thomas Tuchel a…
Juventus and Milan played out a 0-0 draw at a sold-out Allianz Stadium in Serie A on Saturday, with both sides still seeking to secure Champions League spots for next season.
Midfielder Filip Kostic and striker Arkadiusz Milik had great chances to give Juventus the lead in the second half but Milan goalkeeper Marco Sportiello showed off his skills to keep their attempts out.
The Rossoneri finished the game without a shot on target as the contest finished goalless, leaving the sides to share the spoils.
Milan remain second in the standings on 70 points while Juventus remain third on 65, after Inter sealed the title on Monday.
A brilliant performance between the sticks from Marco Sportiello today
— AC Milan (@acmilan)
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Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana believes referee Simon Hooper and VAR were right not to award Wolves a last-gasp penalty in Monday night’s Premier League clash at Old Trafford.
United opened their league account for the season in unconvincing fashion as Raphael Varane’s header 14 minutes from time was enough to earn a 1-0 victory that was barely deserved.
Indeed, it looked like Wolves might get the chance to equalise from the penalty spot at the death when debutant Onana appeared to clatter into Sasa Kalajdzic, but the goalkeeper got away with it.
Wolves boss Gary O’Neil said Onana tried “to take the centre-forward’s head off” and claimed Premier League referees’ boss Jon Moss apologised to him for the decision after the match.
But …
FIFA s Ethics Commitee has banned former Executive Committee member and CONCACAF general secretary Chuck Blazer from all football-related activity for life.
It was revealed in June that the American was among those to accept and facilitate bribes as part of the bidding processes for the France 1998 and South Africa 2010 World Cups.
Blazer pleaded guilty to 10 counts, including racketeering conspiracy and tax evasion in November 2013 and as part of his plea agreed to give United States authorities information pertaining to their investigation.
A FIFA statement on Thursday explained that Blazer was now banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity at national and international level for life .
Mr Blazer committed many and various acts of…
Sunderland striker Steven Fletcher has no plans to reveal his goal target for the season after scoring five goals in four games.
The 12 million pounds forward led Sundrland to victory with the only strike in Saturday s 1-0 win over Wigan and is aiming to improve on last year s total of 12 league goals for Wolves.
I kind of keep that (goal target) to myself, he told the Hartlepool Mail.
The first thing is to do better than last year and if I can keep improving that will keep me happy.
I just go out and play the game the best way I can and I do not like putting that kind of pressure (of a goalscoring tally) on myself.
You need goals and I have scored them early doors.
The Scot went on to express his happiness with his start to life wit…
Orlando City captain Kaka revelled in a big day after his return to Brazil s national set-up was announced on Thursday.
The 33-year-old attacking midfielder, who has scored nine goals and notched four assists in 22 MLS matches, thanked Orlando for providing the platform that allowed him to break back into Brazil s squad for friendlies against Costa Rica and United States next month.
Kaka is Orlando s second most-prolific goalscorer this season, while he was named MVP in this year s All-Star match against Tottenham.
Having played at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 World Cups but missing out on home soil last year, Kaka was thrilled to earn a spot in Dunga s latest squad as the 51-year-old coach looks ahead to Russia 2018.
It s a big day for me… I m back in the …
Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn says Roy Hodgson is very comfortable as England manager despite his contract expiring after Euro 2016.
Hodgson s side ensured their place at the continental competition next year with victory over San Marino at the weekend and are on course to complete qualification with a 100 per cent record.
However, Hodgson s future remains somewhat uncertain with his contract into its final year and the memory of a dismal World Cup campaign fresh in the memory.
And FA chief Glenn is eager to avoid the situation that took place with Hodgson s predecessor Fabio Capello who agreed a new contract extension before a poor outing at the World Cup in 2010 before hanging on to his position until resigning in 2012.
It has b…