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• Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City

  Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.

  The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.

  The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.

  There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.

  Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.

  “Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.  

  “That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.

  “Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.  

  “I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.  

  “Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”

   

  Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.

  That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.

  He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.

• Maresca confirms James will miss Leicester clash with hamstring injury

  Enzo Maresca confirmed that Reece James has suffered another hamstring injury and will miss Chelsea's Premier League fixture against Leicester City on Saturday. 

  James made 11 appearances in all competitions last season before undergoing hamstring surgery, which was designed to help him overcome his series of injuries.

  He returned to action in Chelsea's 2-1 defeat to Liverpool last month, completing his first 90 minutes in 569 days a week later against Newcastle United. 

  Though his latest injury setback is his eighth hamstring problem in four years, while also picking up thigh, ankle and muscle issues along the way. 

  Maresca played down concerns about a long-term lay-off but confirmed James will miss Saturday's match at the King Power Stadium. 

  "We have just one injured player and that's Reece, who unfortunately felt something small in training two days ago, and we don't want to take a risk for the weekend," he said.

  "It's a hamstring, muscular problem. We will see, we don't know for how long, for sure [we want him fit for longer]. At the moment it is not happening, but we hope it will happen soon.

  "He is out this weekend, but hopefully he can be back soon. It's probably difficult that he can be available for the Conference League [next Thursday], but hopefully soon."

  Since his debut season in 2019-20, James' most appearances came in the 2020-21 campaign, featuring 47 times in Chelsea's Champions League winning season. 

  His best run of matches during that time is six in May 2021, but he managed just 482 minutes under Mauricio Pochettino in all competitions last season. 

  James has, however, managed more minutes (6138) in the Premier League since the 2020-21 season than any other player in the current Chelsea squad, though Enzo Fernandez (4375) is second, despite only joining the club in January 2023.

• Ramos in 'final phase' of recovery, says PSG boss Luis Enrique

  Luis Enrique confirmed that Paris Saint-Germain striker Goncalo Ramos is nearing a return to action after sustaining an ankle injury on the opening day of the season. 

  Ramos, who scored 14 goals in 40 appearances in all competitions in his debut season for PSG last year, has not featured for the Parisiens since their 4-1 win over Le Havre in August.

  But despite his absence, Luis Enrique's side sit top of the Ligue 1 standings ahead of welcoming Toulouse to the Parc des Princes this Friday. 

  They are also the top scorers in the division, netting 33 goals in 11 matches so far, nine more than Marseille, who are second in the scoring table. 

  And as the hectic festive schedule kickstarts, Luis Enrique revealed Ramos has already returned to full first-team training. 

  "It was the 25th and that is in a few days, so it is the final phase of his recovery," Luis Enrique told reporters.

  "As for when he is available (to play) we do not know. We will see in training, he is doing really well and is in full training."

  Following Friday's fixture against Toulouse, PSG travel to the Allianz Arena to face Bayern Munich in the Champions League, hoping to ignite their European campaign. 

  The Ligue 1 champions are at risk of failing to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition having taken four points from their first four games this season.

  They currently sit 25th in the new 36-team league table, and with an important week coming up, Luis Enrique insisted he would think about rotating his squad. 

  "You mustn't only think about the game against Toulouse but also the workload for players with their national teams," he said. 

  "So we will make decisions based on what we think. We want to win against Toulouse, which is our main target."

  Ousmane Dembele did not feature during the international break after he left the France training camp with a hamstring issue, though he is expected to feature this Friday. 

  "In theory, it was nothing serious. I don't think it was a big issue and these things happen during the season," Luis Enrique said.

  "It is normal with such a busy schedule, he should be available to play."

  While Toulouse sit 10th in the league standings, they will provide PSG with a difficult test. They come into the game on the back of three consecutive wins, all without conceding a goal. 

  PSG have also not won any of their last two meetings against Toulouse (D1 L1), and could go three games without a win against the Violets for the second time in the 21st century after a winless streak between December 2007 to October 2009 (five).