Atletico Madrid defender Juanfran has revealed that he rejected the chance to join Premier League side Arsenal in the close-season.
The 28-year-old, who has been at the club since 2011, confirmed that Arsene Wenger was interested in securing his services.
However, the former Osasuna man, who last week agreed a contract to keep him at the Vicente Calderon Stadium until 2017, was happy to remain in La Liga instead.
It is true that I had an offer from Arsenal, which any player would like to accept, but I like it here, Juanfran told AS.
For me, you know, there is no better club than Atleti. I am very excited and motivated.
Atletico get their UEFA Champions League campaign under way on Wednesday against Zenit St Petersburg, having not featured in the competiti…
Former Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Mohamed Sissoko says the reported feud between Neymar and Edinson Cavani has been exacerbated by media scrutiny.
There are rumours of discontent within the PSG dressing room after Neymar, a world-record €222million signing from Barcelona last month, argued with Cavani over who would take a penalty in the 2-0 Ligue 1 win over Lyon.
Head coach Unai Emery says he has spoken to them about the issue amid reports Cavani was offered a €1m bonus by the club hierarchy to hand over responsibilities from the spot, after he missed the contentious spot-kick against OL.
But Sissoko, who won the league with PSG in 2012-13 during a two-year spell, does not believe the players are that concerned.
It s just the journalists that ma…
Paris Saint-Germain head coach Laurent Blanc has ignored history ahead of his team s Ligue 1 clash against Nice at the Parc des Princes.
Nice have not won in Paris since 2009, while league leaders PSG have not lost a competitive fixture at home since November 2012 when Rennes took the points in a 2-1 triumph.
But despite those statistics, Blanc has argued Claude Puel s Nice, who sit 11th in Ligue 1, will be a tough challenge for PSG on Saturday.
Claude Puel and Nice have their ups and downs, like all teams, but I think he s a competitor and he will not deny the high expectations of his team at the Parc des Princes, Blanc said on Friday.
He has done a very good job with young players. This will give us an open game and I prefer that.
We see that teams defend…
Barcelona have confirmed that Cristian Tello will join Fiorentina on loan for the 2016-17 season.
The 25-year-old, who spent half of last term at the Artemio Franchi after an initial spell with Porto, was pictured in Florence on Tuesday, having arrived to complete a medical.
The deal includes an option for Fiorentina to make the move permanent at the end of the season, with the Serie A club contractually obliged to play the winger in a certain percentage of matches.
FC Barcelona and Fiorentina have arrived at an agreement for the loan of Cristian Tello for the 2016-17 season, a Barca statement read.
The Italian club contractually agrees that the participation of the player remains active during the loan.
The agreement includes an option for Fio…
West Ham would appear to face mission impossible as they aim to overhaul a 6-0 deficit against Manchester City in the League Cup semi-final.
City s thumping first-leg win, which featured a hat-trick from Alvaro Negredo, two Edin Dzeko goals and one from Yaya Toure, has ensured the return meeting at Upton Park is likely to be little more than a formality.
In Manuel Pellegrini s first season at the helm, City have racked up 103 goals in all competitions and go into Tuesday s game in supreme form, boasting 15 wins from a 17-match unbeaten run.
It would take a miracle of epic proportions for Sam Allardyce s Premier League strugglers to turn the tie around and history is not on their side.
West Ham have not defeated City in any competition since a 1-0 win at Upton Par…
Paris Saint-Germain are considering the possibility of going in for Antoine Griezmann of Barcelona next summer, should they lose the services of Kylian Mbappe, according to magazine FourFourTwo.
The 27-year-old French international only just arrived to the Catalan club from Atletico Madrid a few months ago, and he hasn t adapted to playing alongside Lionel Messi as well as they had hoped at the Camp Nou. Head coach Ernesto Valverde recently said that Griezmann had to make an effort to fit in with the team, which further confirms that all is not well concerning the €120 million star.
On the other hand, the Ligue 1 champions apparently believe Griezmann would fit in well with Neymar and Mauro Icardi in their front line. If Mbappe, who has been heavily linked with Real M…
Alan Pardew plans to protect Daniel Sturridge during his loan spell at West Brom, having targeted a spot in England s World Cup squad for the Liverpool striker.
Sturridge has struggled to nail down a regular spot at Anfield since Jurgen Klopp s arrival as manager in October 2015, having scored 21 times in 29 games as Brendan Rodgers side went close to the title in 2013-14.
The 28-year-old penned a deal until the end of the season with the Baggies ahead of the transfer deadline, but with just five starts to his name in all competitions this season, and none since November Pardew is prepared to take it slow to get the best out of the striker.
If Sturridge can recapture his best form at the Hawthorns, Pardew sees no reason why Sturridge would not form part of Gareth…
Matt Ritchie s first Premier League goal since May 2016 gave Newcastle United a shock 1-0 win over Manchester United on Sunday and struck a potentially decisive blow in the title race.
Jose Mourinho s side suffered a second successive defeat on the road and only their third in 29 league meetings with the Magpies to stay 16 points behind league leaders Manchester City.
Mourinho had failed to win in six previous visits to St James Park in England s top flight and his players rarely looked likely to bring that run to an end in another hugely disjointed display.
Chances were scarce throughout the contest but Anthony Martial and Alexis Sanchez wasted clear openings, while Romelu Lukaku had a goal disallowed, before Ritchie capitalised on some slack defending in the 65…
West Ham United, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing Tammy Abraham from Premier League rivals Chelsea in the summer transfer window, according to . Chelsea are willing to sell the England international striker, but they want as much as £40 million as transfer fee for him.
That is proving to be a problem for the clubs interested in the Chelsea no.9. West Ham are willing to buy the England international striker, but they have told the Blues that they will pay £30 million and not £40 million. Chelsea could decide to let the striker leave on loan with an obligation to buy.
Abraham made 12 starts and 10 substitute appearances in the Premier League for Chelsea , scoring six goals and providing one assist in the process. The England international made 25…
Everton moved into the top half of the Premier League after goals from Kurt Zouma and Dominic Calvert-Lewin sealed a 2-0 victory over Bournemouth on Sunday.
Majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri said in midweek that Everton being 11th in the Premier League is just not good enough and Zouma s 61st-minute header got them going in the right direction at Goodison Park.
Substitute Calvert-Lewin struck deep into second-half stoppage time for a result that may help ease the pressure on boss Marco Silva, who was backed by Moshiri despite a run of four defeats in five matches.
Wolves could send the Toffees back into the bottom half by beating Manchester City on Monday, while Bournemouth have now been victorious only once in their past seven top-flight outings.
FT: …