Milan technical director Paolo Maldini has spoken about Rafael Leao's future with the club, believing the forward is keen on staying put.
The Brazilian was in sensational form to fire Milan to Serie A glory last season, striking 11 league goals as Milan pipped arch-rivals Inter on the final day of the season.
Leao's performances attracted interest from Chelsea in the transfer window, with Maldini confirming their advances were fended off.
Negotiations regarding a fresh deal for the 23-year-old have stalled since, though Maldini is not concerned and feels Milan is the perfect place for his continued development.
"We have already started talking to him. But not now, for a long time. Every renewal can be simple or complicated, the will of the player makes the difference because that of the club is there," he told Gazzetta.
"Renewal is an issue that we addressed many months ago. Rafa knows that to become stronger than now the solution is to stay with us. We are a young and growing team.
"He still has to learn many things but we intend to do great things and grow with him.
"Chelsea's officially written offer has not arrived, but on an informal level it has. Of course, it was rejected."
Maldini's comments came ahead of Milan's Champions League victory over Dinamo Zagreb and the former defender believes his side are a team opponents will not want to be drawn against.
"We may not be ready to think about reaching the final this year, but dreaming is a must. Because Milan is a team that the big ones would not want to face," he added.
Carlo Ancelotti saluted the impact of substitute Marco Asensio following his goal in Real Madrid's 2-0 win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League.
The reigning champions made it six points from six in Group F after netting twice in the final 10 minutes to battle past their spirited opponents at Santiago Bernabeu.
After Federico Valverde opened the scoring, Asensio sealed the victory by sweeping a wonderful first-time effort into the top corner from Toni Kroos' lay-off for his eighth Champions League goal as a substitute - now the most of any player in the history of the competition.
The winger, who replaced Eduardo Camavinga in the 64th minute, was repeatedly linked with a move away from Madrid during the transfer window, and entered the contest having played just 17 minutes for Los Blancos across all competitions this season.
His frustration at the lack of playing time boiled over when he was overlooked by Ancelotti during Sunday's 4-1 win over Mallorca; throwing his bib to the ground while kicking a water bottle. But the Italian was pleased by Asensio's response.
"[I am] happy, he has had minutes and has delivered. I think he needed this goal," said Ancelotti, who became only the second coach to record 100 Champions League wins after Alex Ferguson (102).
"At first, he hesitated whether to leave or stay, but he has stayed, and we were all happy. [It was a] good game, although we suffered a bit in the first half.
"The most important thing was to prevent them from having space behind the defenders, and that's why we wanted a slow pace. At half-time, we decided to put more energy into the game."
Madrid have now recorded clean sheets in each of their last three matches in the competition; doing so for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
And goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois highlighted the significance of making a strong start in Group F, with a double-header against Shakhtar Donetsk to come.
"It was important to start our defence with two straight wins," he said. "Now, if we can win our two against Shakhtar, we'll be nearly through to the next round.
"Maybe when we played better, we still didn't make huge danger [today], but the key was that we took our chances.
"We applied much better pressure in the second half. We marked our men, played the ball simply when we had it. Our general play needs to improve - too many times, we failed to make our passes."
Professional Football Jamaica Limited has secured a JMD$10 million club sponsorship from JN Money Services Limited for the Jamaica Premier League season that is set to get underway next month.
2021 finalists The Mannings School got their second win in as many games as action continued in the ISSA Dacosta Cup on Tuesday.
They secured a 6-0 win over Black River at home to move to six points from two games in Zone D. They got a 5-1 win over Grange Hill at the Llandilo Sports Complex on Saturday.
In Saturday’s other Zone D results, Petersfield got a 3-0 win over Belmont Academy at the Crawford Sports Complex while Black River and Godfrey Stewart played to a 1-1 draw.
In Zone E, Maggoty moved to four points from two games with a 1-0 win over Sydney Pagon at STETHS. On Saturday, they drew 1-1 at the same venue with Munro College. In the other Saturday fixtures, STETHS went to Sydney Pagon and won 4-0 while Lacovia and B.B Coke played out a 0-0 draw at Lacovia.
In Zone G, Alphansus Davis and Holmwood Technical secured 1-0 wins over Mile Gully and Alston, respectively.
In Zone H, Lennon High and Edwin Allen got 4-0 wins over Thompson Town and Kellits High, respectively.
Zone I saw Oracabessa secure a 2-0 win over Marcus Garvey at Clemhard’s Park and York Castle secure a 4-2 win over Ocho Rios at Drax Hall.
In Zone J, Wycliffe Martin High and Tacky high played out a 2-2 draw to move to four points and two points from two games, respectively. At Westmoreland Oval, Horace Clark got their first win with a 3-0 result over Annotto Bay while St. Mary High got a 2-1 win over St. Mary Technical at Richmond Farm. On Saturday, Tacky got a 4-0 win over St. Mary High at home, St. Mary Tech got a 2-0 win over Annotto Bay at Richmond Farm and Horace Clarke and Wycliffe Martin played out to a 3-3 draw at Horace Clarke.
In Zone K, Dinthill secured their second win from as many games and handed Charlemont their first loss with an exciting 4-3 win at home. On Saturday, they beat Ewarton 3-1 at the Ewarton Sports Complex. Also on Saturday, Charlemont got a 3-1 win over Enid Bennett while McGrath beat Guys Hill 1-0.
In Zone L, Paul Bogle beat St. Thomas Technical 3-2 at the Eastern Banana Complex to move to six points. Morant Bay and Seaforth are now tied on four points from two games after playing out a 3-3 draw while Yallahs got their first win with a 5-0 hammering of Robert Lightbourne. On Saturday, Paul Bogle went to Robert Lightbourne and secured a 3-1 win while Morant Bay and Seaforth got 2-0 victories over St. Thomas Technical and Yallahs, respectively.
In Zone M, Denbigh High and Old Harbour High got 3-1 wins over Central High and Tacius Golding, respectively.
In Zone N, Vere Technical went to Winston Jones High and secured the biggest margin of victory in the Cup so far with a 9-0 win. Defending champions Garvey Maceo played a 2-2 draw with Kemps Hill at Sabina Park in Saturday’s Zone N fixture.
In Zone O, Titchfield secured a 5-0 win over Fair Prospect while Happy Grove and Port Antonio played out a 1-1 draw at Hector’s River.
In Monday’s Zone B fixtures, eleven-time champions Rusea’s opened their campaign with a 7-0 win over Merlene Ottey while Green Island beat Hopewell 1-0 at the Orchard Sports Complex.
Monday’s lone Zone F fixture saw Manchester High secure a 4-0 win over Mt. St. Joseph at Mt. St. Joseph.
Action continues Wednesday with 10 matches. In Zone A, 12-time champions Cornwall College will host Maldon, Anchovy will host Green Pond while St. James High and Irwin High will do battle at Jarrett Park.
In Zone C, Muschett will host Cedric Titus and Herbert Morrison will host Spot Valley.
Godfrey Stewart will tackle Belmont Academy at home while Grange Hill and Petersfield will square off at the Llandilo Sports Complex in Zone D action.
In Zone E action, STETHS will host Lacovia while B.B. Coke will host Munro College.
Finally, Guys Hill will play Enid Bennett at Tacky in Zone K.
Jamaica College and Mona High both scored big wins as action in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup continued Tuesday.
30-time champions Jamaica College got their 2022 campaign off to the best possible start with a 13-0 hammering of St. Mary’s College at home to take the early lead in Group B.
St. Jago High secured a 2-0 win over Cedar Grove at the Spanish Town Prison Oval while at the Bell Chung Oval, St. Catherine High came away 3-0 winners over Holy Trinity High in the other Group B fixtures on Tuesday.
At the Mona High School field, the hosts were 9-0 winners over Kingston High to kickstart their season.
Other Group E results saw Hydel go into Papine High and secure a 3-0 victory while Wolmer’s Boys secured a 2-0 win over Camperdown High at home.
STATHS, Tarrant and Jonathan Grant were all winners in Group D. STATHS got the better of Norman Manley 2-0 at Maxfield Park. At Tarrant, the hosts got a 2-1 win over Spanish Town while Jonathan Grant beat Dunoon Technical 1-0 at home.
In a Group F double header at Excelsior High, Campion College and Clan Carthy played out a 2-2 draw in the first game. The second game between Excelsior and Kingston Technical ended in the same score-line. Cumberland secured a 1-0 win over Jose Marti in the lone Group F fixture on Monday.
The tournament began with a double-header at Sabina Park on Saturday with defending champions Kingston College beating Calabar 5-1 and 22-time champions St. George’s College securing a 6-0 win over Ardenne High in Group A. On Monday, Waterford beat Meadowbrook 3-0 at home in the other Group A fixture.
Monday also saw three Group C fixtures as Vauxhall suffered a 0-3 loss at the hands of Tivoli High. Bridgeport went to Edith Dalton James and got a 3-2 victory and Charlie Smith played out a 0-0 draw with Haile Selassie.
Action continues Thursday with nine matches. In Group A, Ardenne will host Kingston College, St. George’s College will visit Meadowbrook while Waterford will host Calabar.
Group C action will see Charlie Smith and Bridgeport locking horns at the Tony Spaulding Sports Complex, Edith Dalton James hosting Tivoli High and Vauxhall visiting Haile Selassie.
In Group F, Campion College will host Jose Marti, Clan Carthy will battle Kingston technical at the Alpha Institute and Excelsior will host Cumberland.
Bayern Munich defender Bouna Sarr has confirmed he will miss Senegal's World Cup campaign after undergoing surgery on his left knee.
The 30-year-old has struggled with the problem for the past couple of years, restricting him to just 12 appearances for Bayern last season and none in the 2022-23 campaign.
Sarr started all seven of Senegal's games in their Africa Cup of Nations triumph earlier this year, but the versatile right-sided player will play no part for his country in Qatar.
"I don't know how to express my disappointment to be away from the pitch for the coming months and especially to miss a World Cup," Sarr, capped 13 times, posted on Instagram.
"It was not an easy decision to make, but after many months of thinking, I understood it would be the wisest, and above all the most reasonable, decision for the rest of my career."
Sarr joined Bayern from Marseille in October 2020 and has played 27 times for the German giants in all competitions, 10 of those being starts.
Iceland’s Heimir Hallgrimsson is expected to be announced as the new head coach of Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz later this week, according to reports.
The 55-year-old Hallgrimsson, who is also a dentist, was most recently head coach at Qatari League Club Al Arabi from 2018 to 2021.
Before then, he was then man at the helm for his native Iceland from 2013-2018. His biggest achievement was leading Iceland to the quarterfinals at Euro 2016 in France, including a 2-1 win over England in the Round of 16.
Hallgrimsson also led Iceland to their first ever FIFA World Cup appearance in 2018 in Russia.
He will take over from former interim head coach Paul Hall who had a record of two wins, three draws and five losses in 10 games since his appointment in December 2021.
Jude Bellingham has conceded he did not expect to become as influential for Borussia Dortmund as quickly as he has, crediting the club's coaches for helping his development.
The 19-year-old England international has become an integral part of Edin Terzic's side, starting 52 matches since the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
Moving to the Bundesliga two years ago from Championship outfit Birmingham City, Bellingham's rise has been meteoric – boasting 15 caps for England alongside his vast experience at club level.
While Bellingham has long been touted to become a star, he himself has admitted that things have moved far quicker than he ever anticipated.
"All of it has been a bit of a surprise - I didn't think I'd come here and have the impact that I've had as quickly," he said ahead of Wednesday's away Champions League clash against Manchester City.
"I thought I'd maybe have to wait a bit longer to get in the team and play a lot of minutes.
"But I've got to give credit to the staff, the coaches that I've had, Lucien Favre and Marco Rose, because they've thrown me into the deep end, given me the exposure, given me the chance to learn.
"I've got qualities that maybe I didn't know I had before I came, it's all down to them, giving me the trust and managing to get it out of me."
Bellingham and his Dortmund team-mates face a tough task against a familiar face in Erling Haaland, who left the club in the transfer window to join City.
Since moving to England, Haaland has been in blistering form with 12 goals in eight appearances across all competitions and Bellingham is not sure how the striker can be stopped.
"I'm not really sure to be honest, we'll have to find out [in the game]," Bellingham added. "He's a player with a lot of quality and a lot of physical attributes that make him so dangerous.
"It's not a thing that's an individual task, it's something the team has to deal with collectively. We stick together, try to do the right things without the ball, then it can be possible."
The return of Premier League football could be jeopardised by a shortage of TV trucks caused by the 24/7 coverage being given to Her Majesty the Queen's funeral.
According to British media outlet Sportsmail, the Premier League's main rights holder Sky Sports are running out of the outside broadcast trucks required to deliver live coverage as many are being used by their sister channel, Sky News.
Sky Sports are due to televise eight live matches across football next weekend, beginning with Aston Villa v Southampton in the Premier League on Friday evening followed by Tottenham v Leicester the next day, and Brentford v Arsenal and Chelsea v Liverpool on Sunday.
In addition, Sky have two live Championship matches on Saturday, plus Scottish Premier League and Women's Super League fixtures the following day.
Sky News are providing unprecedented coverage of events across the country building up to the Queen's funeral next Monday, which has put a strain on their resources.
The lack of TV trucks is understood to have emerged as an additional complicating factor during talks over football's resumption following last weekend's shutdown, which will continue this morning with a briefing from government.
The strain on police resources is the biggest obstacle to Premier League games taking place as planned next weekend, as up to 10,000 police officers will be deployed in London to manage what has been described as an unprecedented security operation in the capital ahead of the funeral.
Officers from across the country will be redeployed to the capital so it is not just London fixtures that are at risk of being postponed.
There are major doubts over whether Leeds' trip to Manchester United will take place next Sunday as a large police presence will be required at Old Trafford, while Chelsea v Liverpool on the same day is also deemed a high-risk fixture.
There are doubts over Arsenal's Europa League clash with PSV Eindhoven taking place on Thursday night after Rangers' Champions League fixture with Napoli was put back 24 hours until Wednesday, with away fans banned.
UEFA have also forbidden Rangers fans to attend the return match in Italy next month, for 'sporting fairness' reasons.
Stefano Pioli has no worries about continuing to select Olivier Giroud to lead the Milan attack in the continued absence of Divock Origi.
Giroud has played in all seven of Milan's matches so far this season, starting five of those, due to the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ante Rebic and new signing Origi being injured.
Origi has managed just 80 minutes of action since arriving as a free agent in the transfer window and has yet to open his goalscoring account for the club.
Pioli had hoped to call on the ex-Liverpool striker before next week's international break, but he has been ruled out of Wednesday's Champions League tie with Dinamo Zagreb.
France international Giroud, who turns 36 later this month, is now expected to start at San Siro as he looks to add to his tally of three goals and an assist so far this term.
Milan head coach Pioli is not overly concerned by Origi's injury-plagued start to life at the club and is happy for Giroud to continue in the role.
"Olivier can play every game, and I have many other players who can also play in that position," Pioli said at Tuesday's press conference.
"I'm not worried about Origi's injury, but sorry. He is a player we strongly wanted and I'm now hoping to have him back after the [international] break."
Giroud has scored only one goal in his past 11 Champions League appearances, managing just eight shots in total across that period – only five of which were on target.
Milan could do with the former Arsenal and Chelsea striker stepping up on Wednesday as they aim to improve on last week's 1-1 draw away at Salzburg in their Group E opener.
However, Zagreb enter the contest in good form having won six games on the spin, including a 1-0 victory over Chelsea that leaves them top of the early standings.
"We have to put our full potential into every game," Pioli said. "Tomorrow's match is very important, but not yet decisive because there are many other matches remaining.
"We could be on top of the group with a win. We have a chance, but it will be difficult because Dinamo deservedly won the first game [against Chelsea].
"If we play at a high level, we have a good chance to win both in Italy and in Europe. We have to play at our best."
Atletico Madrid are not negotiating with Barcelona over a permanent move for Antoine Griezmann, according to the club's chief executive Enrique Cerezo.
Speculation mounted on Tuesday that Atleti were in talks with Barca to sign the forward permanently.
Griezmann re-joined Atleti on loan from Barca last year, after spending two largely forgettable seasons at Camp Nou following a €120million move in 2019.
The France international featured 26 times in LaLiga last season, making 21 starts and scoring three goals.
He has not started any of Atleti's six games across all competitions this term, playing just 165 minutes, with Diego Simeone suggesting finances are a factor.
Atleti will reportedly owe Barca €40m if Griezmann plays over 50 per cent of the minutes in matches and, as such, the 31-year-old has consistently been subbed on after the hour.
It has not impacted his form, however, with Griezmann taking up a super-sub mantle, scoring three goals, including a 101st-minute winner against Porto in the Champions League last week.
Amid speculation of Barca taking legal action, talks between the clubs were said to be under way over a permanent move, but these rumours were shot down by Cerezo.
As reported by Marca, Cerezo said: "We haven't met with Barcelona nor do we have news that we are going to meet.
"The Griezmann issue is very clear, you already know it or you can imagine it. So until everything is resolved, if there is something to solve, we are at the same point.
"At the moment we are at the same point, nothing has changed with Barca on Griezmann. Right now there is nothing, it is the same as when we started the season."
Atleti face Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday in their second Champions League outing of the campaign.
Griezmann has been involved in 28 goals in 35 group stage appearances for Atleti, scoring 20 times and providing eight assists.
He has scored in their second match of the tournament in his last three seasons with the club, against Chelsea in 2017-18, Club Brugge in 2018-19 and Milan last term.
Spain striker Raul de Tomas has agreed to return to Rayo Vallecano after a deal was confirmed with Espanyol.
The 27-year-old spent two seasons on loan at Estadio de Vallecas from Real Madrid between 2017 and 2019, before making a permanent move to Benfica, and then Espanyol.
However, as his move back to Vallecano has been completed outside the transfer and registration window, the player cannot feature for his new team until January. A lack of match action in the coming months means it is unlikely De Tomas will be named in the Spain squad for the World Cup later this year.
De Tomas – who has four caps for La Roja –scored 17 goals in 34 LaLiga appearances for Espanyol last season, but was keen to move to Vallecano before the transfer window closed.
That was not possible as negotiations stuttered, though they continued after the window closed, even leading to the player's agent Ivan Garcia being accused of headbutting Vallecano's president Raul Martin Presa, with the club releasing a statement on Saturday saying: "Ivan Garcia assaulted Raul Martin Presa, hitting him in the face with his head on Thursday night.
"Precisely because he was attacked, Raul Martin Presa called the police, went to the emergency room of a hospital centre to receive medical assistance and immediately filed a complaint against Ivan Garcia at the police station."
Nevertheless, Vallecano announced on Tuesday that a deal had been agreed to sign De Tomas, with reports suggesting the fee to be around €8million, with a further €3m in add-ons, and the club confirmed he had signed until 2027.
That falls some way short of Espanyol's supposed initial valuation of €30m, but the writing seemed to be on the wall when the player fell out with head coach Diego Martinez, and he has not featured for the Periquitos this season.
De Tomas made his Spain debut last November in the 1-0 win away to Greece in World Cup qualifying, and has since played for the national team against Sweden, Portugal and Czech Republic.
RB Leipzig midfielder Konrad Laimer faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a ligament injury in Saturday's 3-0 win against Borussia Dortmund.
The 25-year-old Austrian came off late in the game, and it has been revealed by his club he suffered a blow to his left syndesmosis ligament, an injury often known as a high ankle sprain.
Laimer, who was linked with Liverpool and Bayern Munich before the transfer window closed, faces "several weeks" out of action, Leipzig said.
The news comes as a blow to new Leipzig head coach Marco Rose, who was appointed last Thursday in the wake of Domenico Tedesco losing his job after a 4-1 Champions League defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk.
The injury setback was confirmed on the eve of Leipzig's away game against Real Madrid in the Champions League, with Rose looking to keep the Bundesliga side in with a realistic shot of a top-two finish in Group F, which also contains Celtic.
The Football Association of Wales (FAW) have announced that national team manager Rob Page has signed a new four-year contract.
Page took over as Wales boss on a caretaker basis in November 2020 following Ryan Giggs' arrest on assault charges and led the side to World Cup qualification for the first time in 64 years.
The 48-year-old also helped Wales reach the last 16 at Euro 2020 and secure Nations League A qualification for the first time.
Giggs resigned in June, with Page taking over permanently, and the FAW have moved to secure him to a long-term deal with a view to their qualifying campaigns for Euro 2024 and the 2026 World Cup.
"There is no bigger honour than coaching your national team and I can’t wait for the challenge the next four years will bring, starting with our first FIFA World Cup in 64 years," Page said.
"This is an exciting time for Welsh football and I hope we can make the country proud in November and continue our success by qualifying for more major tournaments in the future."
Wales are grouped with England, United States and Iran at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey and West Ham United’s Michail Antonio headline a 23-member Reggae Boyz squad to face two-time World Cup winners Argentina in an International Friendly in the United States on September 27.
The squad, unveiled by the Jamaica Football Federation on Monday, also includes six reserves.
This will be the third meeting between the two teams.
They first met in the group Stages of the 1998 FIFA World Cup when Argentina secured a 5-0 victory while their second time opposing each other came 17 years later in the Group Stage of the 2015 Copa America with Argentina once again coming out on top 1-0.
The full squad reads as follows:
RESERVES
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
