Schalke in talks over Nastasic deal

Eden Hazard says his focus will be on Chelsea for the rest of the season despite reports he is close to agreeing a deal to join Real Madrid.

Hazard scored a wonderful solo goal as part of a brace in Chelsea s 2-0 Premier League win over West Ham on Monday, after which Maurizio Sarri told Sky Sports £100million would be too cheap to buy the forward.

Belgium international Hazard will only have a year remaining on his contract at the end of 2018-19, but Chelsea may not be able to replace him due to a two-window transfer ban, against which the club have appealed.

Reports have claimed Madrid and Chelsea are nearing an agreement for Hazard as part of the LaLiga club s expected heavy investment following Zinedine Zidane s return, but he is concentrating only on helping…

Pedri hopes Barcelona can raid Athletic Bilbao to sign magnificent defender Inigo Martinez.

Barca have reportedly turned their attention to centre-back Martinez, with Sevilla s Jules Kounde expected to join Chelsea rather than move to Camp Nou.

Pedri believes his Spain team-mate would be a great signing for the Blaugrana, who have been busy in the transfer market ahead of the 2022-23 season.

The teenage midfielder said when asked about the prospect of signing Martinez: I hope he comes. He is a magnificent player. I know him very well from the national team.

Barca academy graduate Pedri believes the Catalan giants have a great chance of winning LaLiga after recruiting the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Franck Kessie.

Asked how the te…

Arsene Wenger has named Alexis Sanchez in the Arsenal starting line-up for Sunday s clash with West Brom.

The Chile international starts in attack, alongside Alex Iwobi and Alexandre Lacazette, despite speculation over a possible move to Manchester City in the January transfer window.

There is no place in the squad for Mesut Ozil, though, with the Germany star having picked up a slight knee problem that could leave him in doubt to face Chelsea on Wednesday.

There s no in he misses out with a slight knee injury

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal)

Wenger, who will set a new record of 811 Premier League matches as a manager in the game at The Hawthorns, became frustrated with questions this week over Sanchez s future.

When he plays well it s a pr…

Manuel Manos Gonzalbo saw legends of the football world come and go at Barcelona, and on Tuesday the Catalan giants announced the death of the man who became a member in 1932.

Barcelona said Gonzalbo, who died at the age of 101, was number one on their membership list, with the club currently having over 140,000 socios  who are eligible to vote on significant club issues.

Gonzalbo will have seen superstar figures such as Johan Cruyff, Diego Maradona, Romario, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi star for Barcelona during his lifetime.

The club said in a statement: We are sorry to announce the death of Manuel Manos Gonzalbo, holder of FC Barcelona membership number 1, at the age of 101.

He had been a club member since 5 September 1932. Our hea…

that Manchester United are lining up a world record bid in an attempt to sign Gareth Bale from Real Madrid.

The 25 year old Wales international swapped North London for the Spanish capital in the summer of 2013 when Real paid a then record fee of around £85m.

He has racked up sixty-six appearances since arriving at the Bernabeu, scoring thirty-three goals, three of which have come in the final victories of the Copa del Rey, the Champions League and the World Club championships.

However, with the La Liga leaders linked with a move for Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus, his future at the club has become the subject of much speculation, leading Manchester United to consider a move.

During his time with Tottenham Hotspur, Bale played over two hundred ti…

Mikael Lustig is in talks with Celtic over extending his contract as he prepares to enter the final year of his current deal.

The Swede arrived at Parkhead from Rosenberg in January 2012, and made 16 Scottish Premiership appearances in 2013-14 as the club claimed their third consecutive title.

The defender revealed to the Daily Record that he was in talks with the club about extending his deal, and also took time to pay tribute to Neil Lennon after the manager opted to leave the Glasgow club last week.

I have a year left on my contract, and we are discussing an extension, he said.

We will see if we reach agreement or what happens but there is no stress. I expect to be playing for Celtic next season.

We enjoyed good times with Neil Lennon and he has done an …

According to a report on Skysports.com, David Silva s agent claims that Valencia has turned down an offer from Manchester United.

The player s agent Julio Llorente told Sky Sports News in a statement, Manchester United made an offer for David Silva, but this has been turned down by Valencia,

Silva doesn t want to play in England because he is happy at Valencia.”

His family is settled and if he was to move it would only be to another Spanish club, like Real Madrid or Barcelona.”

David Silva will start the new season at Valencia.

Premier League champions United had been linked with a £20 million bid for Silva as Sir Alex Ferguson looked to add to his squad before the close of the transfer window.

Bi…

Five-time European champions Liverpool and 2006 runners-up Arsenal will Wednesday look to bolster their coffers by ensuring they reach the lucrative Champions League group stage.

Liverpool s summer was largely characterised by their so far fruitless quest to land Aston Villa s England midfielder Gareth Barry with Liverpool unwilling to shell out 18 million pounds (32 million dollars) for his services and Arsenal have since also courted the player.

Failure to reach the group stage the fate of Scotland s Rangers would blow a hole in the region of 15 million dollars in the season budget and leave respective coaches Rafa Benitez and Arsene Wenger facing up to their own version of the credit crunch.

In reaching the final two years ago, Liverpool earned almost 40 m…

Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo gifted the shirt he wore while scoring a hat-trick against Real Sociedad on Saturday to UFC fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Nurmagomedov, who will take on Tony Ferguson for the lightweight title at UFC 223 in April, was invited by Madrid to attend the 5-2 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The undefeated Russian revealed in 2016 that the pair started talking through Instagram and they met up to exchange gifts following the LaLiga match.

Ronaldo signed the shirt from his match-winning performance and gave it to Nurmagomedov, along with a football and an away jersey with the fighter s first name and the Portuguese s number seven on the back.

Nice to see you bro.

— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano)

…

Competition: La Liga

Market: Sevilla to beat Las Palmas

Odds:

La Liga returns this weekend for even more incredibly exciting action as the competition continues to heat up. The league table has remained exceptionally tight as a single win can quite often see a side rise up a number of places. With this in mind, Sevilla travel to face Las Palmas on Saturday.

Las Palmas have been struggling massively this season and they are in real danger of being relegated to the second division. After 23 games they have won five, drawn three and lost 15, scoring 17 goals and conceding 50 times. In their last five they have managed to win twice, lose twice and draw once which has seen them onto 18 points. Saturday s hosts are currently two points short of safe…