Didac Vila set for Betis loan

Fulham want to keep Paris Saint-Germain-owned goalkeeper Alphonse Areola at the club beyond the summer of 2021, according to . Areola joined the Cottagers on loan from PSG in the summer of 2020 and is the first-choice custodian at the Premier League club.

Areola has kept nine clean sheets for Fulham so far this season. Scott Parker’s side are third from bottom in the Premier League table at the moment with 26 points from 28 matches, level on points with 17th-placed Brighton and Hove Albion, who have played 27 games.

It has been reported that if Fulham are able to escape the dreaded drop to the Championship at the end of the season, then they plan to activate a clause to keep Areola at Craven Cottage next season and beyond.

…

The Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) docked Nice two Ligue 1 points, one of which was suspended, due to their involvement in the chaotic scenes with Marseille last month.

The August 22 clash was suspended and then abandoned after home fans stormed the Allianz Riviera pitch in response to Marseille s Dimitri Payet, who was hit on the back of the neck, throwing a bottle back into the Nice crowd.

The LFP had summoned the two teams to a disciplinary hearing on August 25 to explain the unsavoury scenes, which saw a melee break out on the pitch and subsequently in the dugout.

On Wednesday, the LFP announced its decision to punish Nice with a one-point deduction, while also subjecting the French club to three games behind closed doors.

For inciting the crow…

Everton s Steven Naismith hopes Nikica Jelavic can continue his good form against Valencia in the International Champions Cup on Tuesday.

The Croatia international has been named on the bench for the first two games of the tournament, and has scored three times in pre-season so far, including one in the 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid.

And as the two sides go head-to-head for fifth spot in the prestigious competition, in what will be their last game in the USA, Naismith feels that Jelavic can prove to be the difference.

Throughout pre-season he has looked sharp and he has got a bit of confidence back. I think last season he lost a bit of that through not playing every week, the Scotland international told the club s official website.

Naismith also believes that anoth…

Fenerbahce are not interested in signing Moussa Sissoko from Tottenham, the Turkish club said in a statement.

Sissoko became Tottenham s joint-record signing when he joined from Newcastle United for a reported £30million in 2016.

But the France international, left out of his country s World Cup-winning squad, has struggled to make an impact at White Hart Lane.

Sissoko started 15 Premier League games last term and has only featured in one top-flight match so far in 2018-19, starting the 2-1 win at Newcastle.

He was not in the squad for Monday s victory at Manchester United and reports indicated Fenerbahce were keen to take the 29-year-old to Istanbul.

3 points for a good start

— Moussa Sissoko (@MoussaSissoko)

However, a c…

Virgil van Dijk insists Liverpool will pay no attention to being talked up as potential Premier League champions.

Heavy investment on the likes of Alisson, Naby Keita and Fabinho has seen many pundits tout Liverpool as the most likely challengers to Manchester City, who won the title by 19 points in 2017-18.

A 4-0 demolition of West Ham at Anfield on Sunday saw forwards Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah pick up where they left off last season and enhanced suggestions they can contend.

Liverpool top the Premier League table after the first round of games but Van Dijk says Klopp s men will stay grounded.

We ve seen the media writing about us as the new champions and stuff but we don t really look at those things, Van Dijk said.

We need to just focus ga…

Manchester City are waiting for updates on Jack Grealish after an injury to the England midfielder took the shine off an impressive Champions League return in Denmark.

Grealish was forced off with a groin problem after 21 minutes of the holders’ largely straightforward 3-1 victory over FC Copenhagen on Tuesday.

Bernardo Silva also left the action before the end of the first leg of the last-16 tie after a blow to the ankle but it was Grealish pulling up that caused the most concern.

WWWWWWWWW

That s NINE wins in a row, the longest streak by any English side in the competition s history

— Manchester City (@ManCity)

“He wanted to continue but we didn’t want to make the damage even worse,” said manager Pep Guardiola after the game…

Former Liverpool and England striker Emile Heskey has questioned whether football is ever going to move forward in dealing with racism.

After scoring for Brazil in a 5-1 win over Tunisia at the Parc des Princes in Paris on Tuesday, Tottenham forward Richarlison had a banana thrown on the pitch in front of him from the stands.

The player expressed outrage after the game and called for stiff punishments to be imposed, though appeared to doubt strong action would be taken.

Spurs team-mate Harry Kane and former England captain Rio Ferdinand offered their support, while Richarlison s club boss Antonio Conte said on Thursday there must be heavy sanctions, saying: For sure I hope these people are banned from football for the rest of their lives.

In an interview…

Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Blaise Matuidi has committed his future to the Ligue 1 champions by penning a four-year contract extension.

The France international s deal was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he will now stay at the Parc des Princes until 2018.

Matuidi has been a regular for Laurent Blanc s men this season, making 25 Ligue 1 appearances and contributing three goals.

He had been linked with Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City, but has opted to remain with the cash-rich capital club.

Paris Saint-Germain are pleased to announce the extension of four years of the contract of Blaise Matuidi, the club wrote on their official Twitter account.

The 26-year-old made the switch to the Parisian giants in July 2011 in a re…

Days after accusing other Premier League clubs of buying the title , Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said Arsenal should be considered among the big spenders.

The Portuguese boss did not go into specifics when he defended the Blues recruiting policy last week, as the English champions bolstered their squad with the signings of Asmir Begovic and Radamel Falcao (on loan).

However, on Monday, Mourinho stoked the fire with London rivals Arsenal ahead of their Community Shield clash on Sunday claiming Arsene Wenger had spent big without success, but declared they would be contending in 2015-16.

If you add up the amounts clubs have spent in the last three or four years I think maybe you will find a surprise. If you put [Mesut] Ozil plus Alexis Sanchez, plus [Calum] Cham…

Sergio Busquets is set to sign a new improved deal with upon his return from international duty, according to .

The deal actually represents an annex of his existing contract, which is set to increase his salary and activate the option on a two-year extension which should keep the 30-year-old at Camp Nou until the summer of 2023. The holding midfielder is also set to receive a prize at the contract s expiration, a kind of a loyalty reward for staying true to the club colors which several former players already received and which could amount to a staggering figure anywhere between €200million and €500million.

In the last year or two there have been some feeble reports of clubs being interested in signing Busquets, but it was never likely to happen with Barcelona ob…