Paris Saint-Germain's sporting director Kylian Mbappe has insisted he still believes in the possibility of the superstar forward signing a contract extension.

Mbappe will soon enter the final six months of his contract with PSG, who he joined, initially on loan, from Monaco in 2017.

The striker, who turns 23 on Monday, will be free to sign with another club outside of Ligue 1 on a pre-contract agreement from January, with Real Madrid determined to land the France star.

Los Blancos reportedly had three bids for Mbappe rejected by PSG in August.

Discussions over fresh terms between Mbappe and PSG have been ongoing for some time, but the player has always suggested he does not wish to extend his stay in Paris.

However, Leonardo has not given up hope and, after reiterating PSG's desire to keep Mbappe earlier this week, the Brazilian underlined his belief that an agreement can be reached.

In an interview with Europe 1 and Le Journal du Dimanche (LeJDD), set to be broadcast on Sunday, Leonardo said: "It's a very special situation because we are talking about the best player in the world who is coming to the end of his contract.

"We can say that there were times when we discussed more warmly, but that is part of building a relationship.

"People will think that we say that because we want to prolong it but it is beyond the interest of the club. At 22 years old, almost 23, Kylian has reached an incredible maturity.

"It's a complicated situation in the sense that we would like him to stay all his life and that we have to respect [the family's position]. I think we still have good possibilities to extend [the contract]. I believe in it."

Prior to PSG's Coupe de France clash with Feignies on Sunday, since the start of 2021, only Robert Lewandowski (58) and Erling Haaland (43) have scored more goals across all competitions than Mbappe (41), of players in Europe's "big five" leagues, outperforming his expected goals (xG) of 35.58.

Mbappe averages a goal every 107 minutes and has also provided 16 assists, creating 81 chances for team-mates.

However, his expected assists (xA) value of 10.84 suggests the opportunities laid on for his PSG club-mates have been finished exceptionally well.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's future at Arsenal is murky.

Aubameyang lost the captaincy and was suspended for disciplinary reasons last week.

The 32-year-old has been with Arsenal since moving from Borussia Dortmund in 2018.

TOP STORY – JUVE INTERESTED IN AUBA MOVE

Tuttosport claims that Juventus are interested in signing Aubameyang with his future at Arsenal uncertain.

The Gabon international was stripped of the Gunners captaincy last week for disciplinary reasons, creating doubts about his future under Mikel Arteta at Arsenal.

The Bianconeri would be interested in signing the 32-year-old on a six-month loan deal.

ROUND-UP

- Cashed-up Newcastle United are looking to sign Anthony Martial on loan from Manchester United in January, reports the Sun.

- Barcelona have made Manchester United's veteran Uruguayan forward Edinson Cavani their top January target according to Sport.

- Barcelona are also interested in forgotten Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata, claims the Star.

- The Sun claims Leeds United are considering a move for Juventus' US international Weston McKennie who is valued at £20 million.

- AS reports that Manchester United are set to enter into the race for Sevilla's Jules Kounde, Chelsea are also keen on the French defender.

- Manchester City are set to reward Bernardo Silva for his good form, with a lucrative new contract where his salary will be doubled, claims the Sun.

Cole Bassett scored a last-gasp winner on debut as the United States capped a strong 2021 with a 1-0 friendly win over 10-man Bosnia-Herzegovina in Carson on Saturday.

Colorado Rapids midfielder Bassett, 20, swooped on a rebound to break the deadlock in the 89th minute, with Bosnia goalkeeper Nikola Cetkovic unable to hold Jonathan Gomez's effort.

The result extends USA's unbeaten run to four games and makes it 17 wins in the calendar year in their final fixture of 2021.

The visitors had been reduced to 10 men in the 40th minute when Amar Begic was given a straight red card from a hard challenge on Kellyn Acosta.

Jordan Morris had come closest to opening the scoring in the first half, with a header brilliantly saved by Cetkovic with his outstretched leg in the 31st minute.

USA head coach Gregg Berhalter had selected a largely domestic-based squad, with the likes of Weston McKennie, Zack Steffen and Christian Pulisic unavailable.

Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone admits his side are in a "difficult moment" but took full responsibility after Saturday's 2-1 loss to Sevilla.

Atletico slumped to their third straight defeat in LaLiga, leaving them fifth on the table and 13 points behind leaders Real Madrid.

Felipe's 33rd-minute header had levelled the game after Ivan Rakitic rifled in a seventh-minute opener for Sevilla. Lucas Ocampos forced home the winner in the 88th minute, condemning Atleti to another loss.

"We are going through a difficult moment, and the results are not there for us," Simeone told reporters.

"But I have the same illusion as always. We have to work, recover players from injury and have confidence we can get back on track.

"We must seek to find the forcefulness, so things roll naturally for us, but the responsibility is mine, and we are going to take lessons moving forward, that is for sure."

Atletico were without Antoine Griezmann, Jose Maria Gimenez, Stefan Savic and Sime Vrsaljko due to injury.

In a matter of weeks, St. Andrew Technical have gone from being out of the Manning Cup to being in the semi-finals.

After originally finishing fourth in Group B behind Camperdown, Tivoli and Excelsior, they advanced to the quarterfinal round as a second-placed team after Camperdown and Tivoli were disqualified from the competition for using ineligible players.

On Friday at Jamaica College, they played out a 1-1 draw with Mona High to advance from Group 1 along with defending champions Jamaica College to the last four of the competition.

JC finished with a perfect nine points from three games with a 3-1 win over St. Catherine at Stadium East.

On Saturday, Kingston College (KC) secured the top spot in Group 2 with a 2-0 win over Excelsior also at Jamaica College.

Charlie Smith beat Kingston Technical4-1 in the other Group 2 game to advance alongside KC.

KC will play STATHS in one semi-final and JC will play Charlie Smith in the other.

Meanwhile, Mona, Excelsior, Kingston Technical and St. Catherine High will contest the Walker Cup.

In the daCosta Cup, Dinthill Technical and The Mannings School advanced to the semi-finals on Friday.

Dinthill won Zone 1 after beating Edwin Allen 1-0 at Drax Hall, their third win in as many games.

Christiana beat William Knibb 3-2 in the other Zone 1 match at Drax Hall.

Mannings played to a 1-1 draw with Munro College at STETHS to finish with seven points from their three matches and win Zone 2.

Vere Technical and Happy Grove played a seven-goal thriller in the other Zone 2 game at STETHS on the day, with the former prevailing 4-3.

On Saturday, Garvey Maceo pulled off something special to get into the semi-finals.

Entering their final match against St. Thomas Technical at Kirkvine, trailing STETHS by three goals on goal difference, Garvey Maceo produced a massive 12-0 victory over St Thomas Technical to win Zone 3 and advance.

STETHS tried their best with a 6-0 win over Frome Technical at home but it wasn’t enough.

Garvey Maceo and STETHS both finished with seven points but Garvey Maceo’s massive win meant they ended with a goal difference of +16 whereas STETHS, with a big win of their own, ended up with a goal difference of +11.

Edwin Allen, Christiana, Munro College, Vere Technical, STETHS and Frome, as second and third-placed finishers from the respective groups,  have all qualified for the Ben Francis Cup.

The final two qualifiers as well as the final DaCosta Cup semi-finalists will be determined after rescheduled Zone-4 games on Tuesday when Clarendon College play McGrath High and Manchester High and Cornwall College meet.

Xavi described midfielder Gavi as "the future of Barcelona" after his performance in Saturday's 3-2 LaLiga win over Elche.

The Catalans claimed just their third win since Xavi took over as head coach, although they were made to work for the result at Camp Nou.

A dominant first half saw them go into the break 2-0 ahead, with Ferran Jutgla heading in the opener before Gavi opened his Barca account with a stunning solo run and finish.

The 17-year-old became the youngest player to score in LaLiga this season, overtaking Real Madrid's 18-year-old Eduardo Camavinga, and the third-youngest for Barca in Spain's top flight this century.

Elche produced a stirring comeback in the second half as Tele Morente and Pere Milla scored within the space of a minute, ending a 43-year wait for a goal against the Blaugrana in the competition.

It took a superb finish from substitute Nico Gonzalez to secure all three points and move Barca to within three points of the top four.

Gavi's performance was a highlight, though, the midfielder completing all 35 of his first-half passes and producing the key assist for Nico's winner in the closing minutes.

Xavi said of the rising star: "It's amazing to have him, how he competes, what he creates, the goal, the assist. He's spectacular, he's the future of this club.

"Gavi is excited by the way he plays and competes, and that's priceless for a coach."

Before the game, Xavi had suggested some of his players had shown a worrying lack of understanding of positional play, and he felt that was on show during the contest.

Indeed, the former Barca midfielder felt they should have been smarter without the ball when it came to stopping Elche's rare attacks.

"Positional play isn't working and that continues to surprise me," he said. "Elche's goal is a huge mistake from us. We can't progress in this way; we could have made three fouls.

"It's a shame, but we're playing with youngsters who are the ones that make the difference.

"It was like a final. It was a game that we complicated for ourselves. They survived because of our mistakes and that can't be. A game you have under control can't be like that. We have to learn and have more responsibility.

"We have to learn and that's the only way to win."

However, on the importance of the result, he added to Barca TV: "For us, for how we are, these are three golden points.

"Being positive, we played an excellent first half, we were able to score more goals. We understood the spaces well, the wide players were two daggers, the defensive line was really good."

Sevilla kept up their LaLiga title bid as Lucas Ocampos' 88th-minute strike sealed a dramatic 2-1 home win over Atletico Madrid on Saturday.

The visitors looked like they would go back to the Spanish capital with a point after Felipe had cancelled out Ivan Rakitic's stunning early strike.

Ocampos had other ideas, though, slamming home with just two minutes remaining to inflict a third straight top-flight defeat on Diego Simeone's men.

The result moved second-placed Sevilla five points behind leaders Real Madrid, who play Cadiz on Sunday, while champions Atleti are a whopping 13 points adrift of their city rivals.

Massimiliano Allegri was pleased with Juventus' improved "attitude" as they ran out 2-0 winners over Bologna at Stadio Renato Dall'Ara on Saturday.

The Bianconeri were held to a 1-1 draw by Venezia in their last Serie A outing, but they cruised to all three points against Sinisa Mihajlovic's side thanks to goals in each half from Alvaro Morata and Juan Cuadrado.

Juve have now kept five clean sheets in Serie A since November – a joint-record among the top five European leagues in this period, level with Inter.

The performance was a marked improvement from the one at Venezia, and Allegri wants plenty more of that from his sixth-placed team as they bid to climb the table.

"Everyone collaborated when defending, which is how it ought to be," he told DAZN. "Compared to Venezia, we had a better attitude from the start, but we need to do more going forward.

"Bologna have a lot of quality, so it's natural they were going to have some chances. We did well here, but cannot lower our guard now, as there are many head-to-head clashes coming up in January before the Champions League resumes.

"It is a good result that keeps us in the running for fourth place, but we mustn't lower our guard now. It's a long journey, with many young and inexperienced players. We knew from the start it would not be easy to finish in the top four or challenge for the Scudetto.

"We've got one game left in 2021, then we look forward to these exciting clashes in January."

Midfielder Arthur was replaced after 61 minutes by Manuel Locatelli, with the former Barcelona man looking less than impressed with the decision.

Allegri expressed no regrets over the call and had some words of advice for the Brazil international.

"We still need to improve our reading of the game and various moments of the match, for instance just before half-time Arthur made this vertical pass when it was the time to hold on and control the possession," he explained.

"It's different at Barcelona; he was in a three-man midfield and not accustomed to sitting in front of the defence.

"He also is used to taking a lot more touches than we do here. I think if he plays in front of the defence with the right mentality and his technique, he can do well.

"His head was wobbling as he ran. He seemed tired so I took him off."

Nico Gonzalez gave Barcelona just their third win under Xavi as they battled to a 3-2 home victory over Elche in LaLiga on Saturday.

The Catalans looked to be cruising to a much-needed win, Ferran Jutgla and Gavi each scoring their first goals for the club in a one-sided first half in which they had 12 shots to Elche's one.

However, Tete Morente pulled a goal back before setting up Pere Milla to level the scores barely a minute later as defensive concerns were again laid bare to the Camp Nou crowd.

But Nico swept home a fine finish in the 85th minute to snatch a morale-boosting win for the Blaugrana.

Juventus racked up an 11th consecutive Serie A win over Bologna as goals from Alvaro Morata and Juan Cuadrado sealed a 2-0 win at Stadio Renato Dall'Ara.

The Bianconeri were held to a 1-1 draw by Venezia in their last top-flight outing but they never looked in danger of dropping more points after Morata's early opener. 

Massimiliano Allegri's side largely toiled in the second period, yet Cuadrado ensured there was to be no nervy finish with a deflected strike in the 69th minute. 

The result lifted Juventus up to sixth, level on 31 points with fifth-placed Roma, while Bologna remained in 10th.

Juve went ahead in the sixth minute when Morata lashed past Lukasz Skorupski from six yards after being superbly picked out by Federico Bernardeschi.

Mattias Svanberg went close with an audacious overhead kick midway through the first half as Bologna responded well to that early setback, though they could not find a leveller before the interval.

Juve offered little in the way of attacking threat immediately after the break, only making sure of the win when Cuadrado's powerful strike from just inside the penalty area was deflected past Skorupski by Aaron Hickey. 

That goal freed up the visitors to push forward in the closing stages, with Bernardeschi's low strike tipped wide by Skorupski, yet they ultimately failed to add further gloss to the scoreline.

What does it mean? Juve swat aside hosts

It has been a challenging return to Juve for Allegri this season, but there were signs here that things might be clicking into place. They looked robust in defence – limiting Bologna to just three shots on target – while they were ruthless in attack.

He will be looking for plenty more of that as they look to cut into Inter’s 12-point lead at the Serie A summit.

Morata enjoying life on the road

Morata has now found the back of the net in three consecutive away games. It is the first time the Spain international has done that in one of the big five European leagues since May 2017 when he struck in four straight matches on the road with Real Madrid.

Kean off the pace

Moise Kean endured a difficult 71 minutes before he was replaced by Dejan Kulusevski, the Italy international failing to have a single shot or play a key pass. This was his sixth straight Serie A outing without a goal.

What's next?

Juve wrap up 2021 with a home game against Cagliari on Tuesday, while Bologna travel to Sassuolo a day later before the mid-season break. 

Juventus CEO Maurizio Arrivabene has told supporters "they can forget" about the prospect of making big-money signings during the January transfer window, insisting the club must focus on stability.

The Bianconeri announced an increase in capital earlier this week, with 91.75 per cent of the overall shares subscribed for approximately €366.9million.

Juve been heavily linked with a move striker next month, with Dusan Vlahovic, Mauro Icardi and Anthony Martial touted as potential targets.

But Arrivabene explained that player recruitment is not the club's primary focus in the near future.

The CEO told DAZN: "I think it is important to clarify a few things, which is that the increase in capital showed the shareholders have faith in the club's plans to re-launch and resolve our issues.

"However, I want to make it very clear that this is to bring stability to the club accounts. It is absolutely not a financial operation, so we can make some big splash on the transfer market.

"If anyone is expecting some big coups in January, they can forget it. 

"This club has been hit hard by two years of COVID, and we are focused on re-launching, reflecting and evaluating, so we can then do what the economic situation allows us to do."

Barcelona hope to have clarity on the future of Ousmane Dembele by the end of this year, sporting director Mateu Alemany said on Saturday.

The winger's contract expires at the end of the season and, while head coach Xavi has insisted the player wants to stay, there has been no sign of an imminent new deal.

Clubs including Newcastle United, now bankrolled by a Saudi Arabia-backed consortium, have been linked with January bids for the France international, who would be free to leave for nothing at the end of the campaign.

However, Alemany appears confident Barca will be able to keep the 24-year-old, who was signed in 2017 for an initial €105million following Neymar's world-record €222m move to Paris Saint-Germain.

"We've been at this for a long time, always with the will to find an agreement, because his idea is to stay and that gives us a lot of confidence," Alemany said to Barca TV.

"We're at a key moment. We hope everything will be cleared up by the end of the year."

Any new deal for Dembele would push Barca closer to breaching financial fair play regulations, with debts of more than €1.2billion having forced them to plan for this season with a greatly reduced salary cap.

However, Alemany says plans are in place to ensure they stay within parameters, insisting it will be possible for new signings to be made next month.

"There are several options in place to stay within financial fair play, and we're working on signings. We've worked on this with the coach," he said.

"We know what he wants, what he needs and what he has. And we're clear about what the market can provide. We're keen to secure departures and arrivals."

Stefano Pioli declared that league titles "are not won in December" but challenged Milan to raise their game when they face Napoli on Sunday.

Inter moved four points clear of the Rossoneri at the top of Serie A by hammering Salernitana 5-0 on Friday.

The champions have soared to the summit with six consecutive victories, while Milan dropped to second after they were held to a 1-1 draw at Udinese, after crashing out of the Champions League with a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Liverpool.

Pioli says it is too early for talk of Inter running away with it, highlighting that Milan topped the table for much of last season before falling short.

The Milan head coach said in a press conference on Saturday: "I don't think we can talk about an escape, I think Inter are demonstrating the qualities they had already shown.

"Championships are not won in December. We were in the lead for a long time last year and we know how it ended. We have to improve ourselves.

"The first year we had 66 points starting from a difficult position. The second year 79 points.. This year's goal is to do better, especially in the second round [of fixtures]."

He added: "We are having a very good first round, there are still two games to go. I would like to surpass last year's 43 [before the break].

"Tomorrow's opponents have great qualities and an excellent coach, we certainly need to raise the level of performance.

"We are not racing against anyone, but only with ourselves. The last two performances weren't optimal, we must try again to bring our qualities into play with strength and conviction."

Milan have only won one of their last 13 Serie A games against Napoli, but at least it came recently – a 3-1 success in November 2020. Over that period they have had five draws and suffered seven defeats.

Neither team can point to particularly strong recent form, despite both sitting in the top four going into the San Siro game. After setting an electric pace in the early weeks, Milan and Napoli have been steadily reeled in.

Since the beginning of November, Milan have picked up eight points from six games and Napoli have managed only five, ranking them 10th and 16th respectively in Serie A across this period.

Milan's forwards may be interested in the fact Napoli have faced 28 shots on target in their last five league matches (5.6 on average per match), whereas they had faced 11 in total in their previous five (2.2 on average per game).

Pioli will check on Theo Hernandez for the clash with fourth-placed Napoli as the France left-back has been suffering with illness.

Paris Saint-Germain head coach Mauricio Pochettino says Sergio Ramos could be involved in Sunday’s Coupe de France clash with fifth-tier Feignies-Aulnoye.

Ramos has only featured once for PSG since arriving from Real Madrid on a free transfer due a calf injury.

The veteran defender made his long-awaited debut in last month’s win at Saint-Etienne, but fresh muscle problems culminated in another spell on the sidelines.

Pochettino revealed he could return on Sunday when the runaway Ligue 1 leaders launch their Coupe de France defence against a side four divisions lower than them and the former Tottenham boss is also set to give young players an opportunity at Stade de Hainaut.

"We think [Sergio] will be in the squad tomorrow. We will see if he starts or is on the bench," Pochettino said.

"He has trained well over the last few days, so we will see if he can help in the game tomorrow.

"It is a good opportunity for the young players to get a chance, and some of them will get to play and be involved with the first team. 

"They are very motivated about that, and it is important for them to feel part of this project."

PSG boast a proud record in the competition, lifting the trophy in six of the last seven years.

They are unbeaten against lower-league opposition since 2010, and you must go back a further 20 years for their last defeat at this stage.

Nevertheless, Pochettino has called for respect and professionalism from his players.

"The priority is always to win. There is no other priority," he added.

"Playing against Feignies-Aulnoye gives us a chance to share something special against a team in the fifth tier. It is a wonderful thing in football that you only get in the cup.

"The motivation and excitement for them to play against Paris Saint-Germain is massive. We know how they play, what they are trying to do against us. 

"But for us, we must show respect, be professional and play in the way that we want to play; try to win and be in the next round."

Carlo Ancelotti says Barcelona "are not a direct rival" for Real Madrid at the moment, with the Blaugrana enduring a difficult season.

Los Blancos are eight points clear at the top of the table, having lost just once in La Liga this season against Espanyol on October 3.

Barca, meanwhile, are 18 points adrift of the leaders in eighth place and have won only six LaLiga games so far this term.

Madrid head coach Ancelotti feels that the likes of Sevilla and Real Betis, who are second and third respectively, pose a more immediate threat than the Catalan club.

"Now Barcelona is not a direct rival because we are closer [to] Sevilla, Atletico or Betis, but if I were Barcelona's coach I would say that we can't rule out LaLiga either," Ancelotti said to a news conference ahead of Los Blancos' league clash with Cadiz.

Ancelotti is without six players for Sunday's encounter due to COVID-19, with Marcelo, Luka Modric, Andriy Lunin, Marco Asensio, Gareth Bale and Rodrygo all unavailable, while Isco is a doubt.

The Italian gave fitness updates on the rest of the squad and was particularly optimistic about Eden Hazard's chances of playing a starring role.

"It is true that we have had setbacks but those who have tested positive are fine and the rest are ready to play tomorrow's game," Ancelotti continued.

"After the first positive tests, the [rest] all tested negative and we are determined to play. We have to live with it just as society is doing. This virus is less strong than before and we have to keep in mind that we have to take care of ourselves and follow all precautions.

"Hazard starts tomorrow. He wants motivation and he's going to play because he trained well and deserves it. He is always well. The problem is that he has not always been able to train 100 per cent and I think that tomorrow he will play a good game.

"Hazard is prepared. It is clear that in the first part of the season he had the competition of [Karim] Benzema and Vinicius [Junior] and now he can have a very, very good second part of the season.

"Benzema has trained very well. He is very well and will play. Modric has tested negative but remains confined. He is tired and has had a fever so he will not be there tomorrow. Then we have to assess what the regulations say."