Iniesta: Euro test toughest yet

In an interview with AS, Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso has claimed that he has been offered a contract extension with the Blues. His current deal is set to run until 2021, although the club appear to be very eager to keep hold of him for the foreseeable future. Chelsea signed the 27 year old back in 2016 in a deal believed to be worth around €24 million, and over the course of the last two years he s certainly been able to prove why they forked out so much money for him.

It s no secret that Alonso is a controversial figure in football and that ll likely never change, but at the very least, he s still an exceptional player. Perhaps as time goes on he ll pick up a move to an even bigger club, although based on what he s saying here, he seems fairly happy at Stamford Bridge an…

The Portuguese giants their decision to activate the buy-out clause in Oliver Torres’ loan deal with .

The midfielder has been brimming for the Dragons this season, scoring two goals and grabbing an assist in 18 league appearances for FC Porto this season and the club management has decided to take the 22-year-old from the Spanish club on permanent basis.

A deal worth €20 million will go through in the summer, once Torres’ loan spell is officially ended.

Oliver Torres joined Atletico Madrid back in 2014 but has spent most of his time away from Vicente Calderon playing on loan at Villarreal before being forwarded to for the second season running.

The Spanish midfielder’s transfer will be the second biggest deal in the history of the entire Portu…

Julian Nagelsmann hailed Serge Gnabry s unique ability as Bayern Munich prepare to face Dynamo Kiev in Wednesday s Champions League clash.

Bayern crushed Barcelona 3-0 in their Group E opener and have won the most games (20), while scoring the most goals (73) across the last three Champions League campaigns.

Robert Lewandowski has been directly involved in 27 goals in his last 17 appearances in the competition and has ended on the winning side in all 17 games, the joint-longest run of wins by a player in the tournament s history.

However, Nagelsmann preferred to focus on Gnabry, who has scored three and assisted twice this term, ahead of the visit of Dynamo.

I didn t do anything with [Gnabry] consciously and didn t have that many conversations, Nagelsman…

Manchester United managed to come back from behind to beat Villarreal in the Champions League on Wednesday, with Cristiano Ronaldo netting a very late winner after Alex Telles cancelled out an early opener from Paco Alcacer for the Spanish side.

After the match, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer spoke very highly of the mentality of the Portuguese superstar.

That s just what he s done throughout his career. He s so strong mentally.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer speaks of Cristiano Ronaldo s emotional strength

— Football Daily (@footballdaily)

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Russia s 2008 UEFA Cup winners Zenit Saint-Petersburg signed experienced Portuguese international defender Bruno Alves for 22 million euros from Portuguese champions FC Porto on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old capped 35 times and an ever present at the World Cup finals where Portugal exited in the second round is yet to sign his contract as he has to undergo a medical.

Alves, who has had loan spells with Farense, Vitoria Guimaraes and Greek giants AEK Athens, won four successive league titles with Porto and was named Portuguese player of the year in the 2008/09 season.

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Interim Argentina coach Sergio Batista on Friday recalled Javier Zanetti, Esteban Cambiasso and Andres D Alessandro to face world champions Spain in a September 7 friendly in Buenos Aires.

Inter Milan pair Zanetti and Cambiasso were left out of the World Cup squad by then coach Diego Maradona despite coming off a treble-winning season topped off by a Champions League triumph.

D Alessandro also had a fine club campaign with Brazilian outfit Internacional, but the trio were not to Maradona s taste and missed out on the team s run to the quarter-finals in South Africa.

Spain, who landed their first World Cup win in July to add to their Euro 2008 success, won the countries last meeting in a November 2009 friendly.

Argentina squad

Goalkeepers: Sergio …

Lars Bender will miss the FIFA World Cup after suffering a thigh injury during Germany s pre-tournament training camp on Thursday.

The Bayer Leverkusen midfielder was named in Joachim Low s provisional squad for the finals in Brazil after impressing during the Bundesliga season.

Germany are currently in northern Italy before heading to South America next month, but Bender will not be on the plane after the German Football Association confirmed he damaged a muscle in his right thigh during a training session.

If just before a tournament injury fails a player then that s disappointing, said Low.

For Lars, I m personally very sorry.

I know he wanted to be in Brazil, he is an absolute role model.

Bender has made 17 appearances for Germany since his debu…

Colin Calderwood was appointed the new manager of Scottish Premier League side Hibernian on Monday on a three year contract ending his period as assistant coach at English Premier League outfit Newcastle United.

The 45-year-old has previous managerial experience at Northampton Town and Nottingham Forest, where he won praise for the stylish football they played, before agreeing to join Newcastle as Chris Hughton s assistant in January 2009 and which saw them regain their Premier League status.

However, the former Scottish international defender who won 36 caps and had spells at among other clubs Spurs and Aston Villa said the pull of a top job in his homeland had proved too much.

The opportunity to manage a top-flight side in my home country was hard for me to t…

Claudio Ranieri has returned the compliments paid to him by Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri ahead of Fulham s trip to Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Sarri spoke of his deep respect for his Italian compatriot before the pair s meeting in a west London derby that pits the Premier League s fourth-placed side against the team propping up the table.

A 3-2 win over Southampton gave Ranieri a fine start to his Craven Cottage tenure and the 67-year-old is relishing a reunion with both his former club and an old friend.

Sarri is really smart, he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. I followed him for a few days in Cobham [Chelsea s training ground]. There is great study behind him, good insights, a huge passion. 

When we met, he reminded me of an episode from the days in …

Ilkay Gundogan swapped sun and sand in December and January for the cut and thrust of the Premier League when he joined Manchester City – and the Germany international could not be happier.

Former Borussia Dortmund midfielder Gundogan was Pep Guardiola s first signing at Manchester City in 2016 but had his campaign curtailed by a cruciate knee ligament injury.

A cast of walking wounded at the Etihad Stadium, including Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva and Fernandinho, means he is likely to be a key figure as the fixtures pile up this time around.

City face the next step of their Premier League title defence at Everton this weekend, while a Christmas and new year period Gundogan used to watch from afar is one he now anticipates with relish.

I remember the ti…