Zinedine Zidane is not entertaining speculation about transfer talks with David Alaba as Real Madrid battle to defend their LaLiga title.
Bayern Munich defender Alaba is out of contract in Germany at the end of the season and negotiations over an extension have so far proved fruitless for the European champions.
The Austria international has been mooted as a target for Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain as well as Madrid, although Zidane's outfit are considered favourites for his signature in some quarters.
Alaba was a key part of the Bayern team that won the Champions League last season.
However, since the start of 2019-20, he has committed four errors leading to shots in the competition, a joint-high among defenders. None of these have resulted in goals, while Madrid's Raphael Varane has made the same number of mistakes but been punished on all four occasions.
Alaba's statistics over this period are very similar to Varane's, playing 13 games to his 14 and having 29 fewer touches and seven fewer successful passes.
Varane is also just four tackles, two blocks, five clearances and seven interceptions ahead of his counterpart.
Rather than being signed as a competitor to Varane, though, Alaba could partner the World Cup winner as talismanic Madrid captain Sergio Ramos approaches his 35th birthday.
Either way, the speculation does not interest head coach Zidane, who said ahead of facing Celta Vigo: "We've got all our players here. I'm just thinking about the game tomorrow with the players that I have here.
"Then maybe you're going to ask me about the players that are playing a lot or not playing a lot. We have 22 players, 25 with the goalkeepers, a very big squad.
"We have enough to think about with the games that we have not to be thinking about players that aren't even ours. Please, we're thinking just about the game tomorrow."
While Zidane is keeping his focus on LaLiga, where Madrid trail Atletico Madrid by two points, the need to bring in a player of Alaba's calibre would become urgent if a new contract for Ramos was not agreed.
The PSG-linked skipper, Luka Modric and Lucas Vazquez are all free agents, like Alaba, in June 2021.
"Yes, we all want [contracts to be signed]," Zidane said. "We want the situation to be sorted as quickly as possible.
"It's in everyone's interests, it would be good for everyone, so hopefully it can be sorted out quickly."
Jack Grealish believes he should have been in England's Euro 2024 squad
Jack Grealish thinks that he should have been part of England's Euro 2024 squad.
Grealish was initially called up for the Three Lions' 33-man training squad, but was one of seven players who did not make the final squad for Germany.
England reached the final, losing 2-1 to Spain.
The 29-year-old has been back in the fold under interim manager Lee Carsley, and impressed in September's Nations League matches against the Republic of Ireland and Finland.
"I will be honest with you, I didn’t really agree with it," Grealish told BBC Radio 5 Live of Gareth Southgate's decision not to include him among the final 26 players.
"You need a bit of a balance in every position on the pitch and I class myself [as] quite an experienced player now.
"I have won a lot of stuff now so, you asked me should I have gone, yes, I still think I should have, but obviously it wasn't meant to be."
Grealish started just 10 league matches for Manchester City in the 2023-24 season, scoring three goals and providing one assist.
While he admitted that he "didn’t have the best season" domestically, he was left "devastated" by his omission and said that missing out on Euro 2024 was "probably the most difficult period of my life".
Grealish scored in England's 2-0 victory over Ireland in Dublin last month, and will be hoping for more of the same against Greece and Finland in the coming week.
Asked if he felt he had a point to prove, Grealish made it clear that he wanted to show people what England were missing at Euro 2024.
"Of course, I wanted to come here and train well and play well," he said.
"I thank Lee Carsley for giving me that chance and having that trust in me.
"It obviously really meant a lot. I think throughout my career when I have played under managers who have shown trust in me and communicated with me the way he has the last two camps, it really helps me.
"It makes me feel that the manager really does rate me and I can't speak highly enough of him since I have been here."
Chelsea edge Real Madrid in Women's Champions League thriller
Chelsea kicked off their 2024-25 Women's Champions League campaign with a 3-2 victory at home to Real Madrid in Group B.
The victory puts the Blues in second in their group after one match, while it was a perfect start for manager Sonia Bompastor, who was taking charge of her first Champions League game for the club.
Bompastor led Lyon to the Champions League final in two of the last three seasons, winning it in 2021-22. She will be hoping to do the same in west London this season and things got off to the perfect start for her and Chelsea in this game.
Sjoeke Nusken's second-minute goal put the home side ahead - unsurprisingly, that is the quickest goal in the Champions League this season.
In miserable weather at Stamford Bridge, things got even better for the hosts after they were awarded a penalty for a foul on Nusken. Guro Reiten made it 2-0 from the spot in the 28th minute, with Madrid goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez unable to get a hand to it despite diving the right way.
But Madrid were back in it 11 minutes later, with Alba Redondo finishing tidily through Zecira Musovic's legs - her second Champions League goal in as many matches.
They were unable to make the most of that lifeline, with Chelsea restoring their two-goal advantage soon after the break. Mayra Ramirez scored her first goal of the season, heading in Lauren James' cross seven minutes after the restart.
The drama was not finished though. Substitute Linda Caicedo once again cut the deficit for the visitors, making it a nervy final seven minutes for Chelsea, but the home side held on to claim a valuable three points.
Chelsea have now lost just one of their last 19 group stage matches (W13 D5) and are unbeaten across their last 13 (W10 D3); the only other team to have participated in every group stage since they were introduced in 2021 and lost just once is Barcelona (W16 D1).
Elsewhere in Group B, Celtic were beaten 2-0 by FC Twente in their opener, which marked their first-ever game in the Champions League.
Kayleigh van Dooren netted twice for the Dutch side, although the Scottish champions held out until the 44th minute before conceding.
In truth, they were second-best with the visitors dominating possession, having over 70% of the ball, and taking double the shots on target of their hosts (six to three). Twente got a second five minutes from time and go top of the group.
Palmer named England's Men's Player of the Year
Cole Palmer has been named England's Men's Player of the Year for 2023-24.
Chelsea star Palmer came off the bench to score in the Euro 2024 final, although England ultimately lost 2-1 to Spain in Berlin.
Palmer has only nine caps to his name, and just two starts for the Three Lions, but he finished ahead of Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka in the public vote.
The 22-year-old made his debut in a 2-0 win over Malta in November of last year, and has scored two international goals, including that strike against Spain in July.
Palmer is the first Chelsea player to scoop the award since Ashley Cole in 2010.
Since he joined Chelsea from Manchester City last season, Palmer has directly contributed to 44 league goals (28 goals, 16 assists).
Of players to feature in Europe's top five leagues, his England team-mate Harry Kane has provided more goal contributions (53 - 41 goals, 12 assists) in that time.
Earlier this season, Palmer became the first player to score four goals in the first half of a Premier League match when he scored all of Chelsea's goals in a 4-2 win over Brighton.
Palmer is expected to feature when England take on Greece in the Nations League on Thursday.
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