Brendan Rodgers has committed his long-term future to Leicester City, ending speculation linking him with the vacant Arsenal manager’s job. The Northern Irishman moved to Leicester from Celtic in February after winning seven trophies in just under three years in charge in Scotland. The 46-year-old has taken Leicester to second in the Premier League behind Liverpool, with 11 wins from 15 matches this season. Leicester, the 2015/16 Premier League champions, have won their past seven league games to equal their top-flight record for consecutive victories.
Rodgers’ success at the King Power Stadium saw him linked heavily with the Arsenal manager’s job after the sacking last week of Unai Emery.
Rodgers said talks about the contract had been going on before Emery was sacked. “We’ve been talking for a few weeks,” he said at his pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow’s game at Aston Villa. “It’s a great club. We just want to keep progressing. We’re looking to continue on the legacy. We don’t have the wealth of the top six, but perhaps we can do this in a different way.”
Pele’s last Brazil
jersey sells for
30,000 euros in Italy
The jersey worn by Brazilian football legend Pele during his final match for the five-time world champions has sold for 30,000 euros ($33,000) in an auction in Italy. The three-time World Cup winner wore the jersey in a friendly against Yugoslavia at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro in July 1971, the last time he played for Brazil.
Pele, 79, regarded as among the greatest footballers of all-time, scored 77 goals for Brazil in 92 appearances. The shirt was the highlight of objects which went under the hammer at the Bolaffi auction house in Turin on Thursday. Other sporting memorabilia included the yellow jersey won by Italian cycling star Fausto Coppi on his way to victory in the 1952 Tour de France, which sold for 25,000 euros. A rare blue Juventus jersey worn by Italian defender Luciano Spinosi in the final of the 1971 UEFA Cup sold for 9,400 euros.
Another shirt worn by Argentina legend Diego Maradona during his time playing for Napoli in the 1989-90 season sold for 7,500 euros. A bat used by US basketball great Michael Jordan during his brief foray into baseball fetched 425 euros.
Bale has never asked to leave Real, says agent
Gareth Bale “is not ecstatic” with life at Real Madrid but has never asked to leave the club, the Welsh forward’s agent has said. Bale’s commitment to the 13-times European champions came under the microscope last month after he helped his nation qualify for Euro 2020 and then joined his team mates dancing alongside a banner saying ‘Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order’. He was booed by real fans during last month’s match against Real Sociedad. The 30-year-old forward was also involved in a tense stand-off with coach Zinedine Zidane in the off-season, with the Frenchman stating he was keen for Bale to leave, although a reported move to Chinese club Jiangsu Suning was scrapped.
“He’s not ecstatic,” Bale’s agent Jonathan Barnett said. “He has got a contract and as long as he is a Real Madrid player he will play at 100% — and do very well. He has never asked to leave. If the right opportunity came along for him and it’s something he wants to do we have to have a chat with the president of Real Madrid and see where we are.”
Allegri in no rush to return to management
Former Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri has said he will wait until the end of the season before making a return to management, despite being linked with Bayern Munich and Arsenal in recent weeks. Allegri, 52, parted ways with Juventus following the club’s eighth consecutive Serie A title in 2018-19 — the fifth under his stewardship. Allegri, who is taking English lessons in Milan, said that when he does return to coaching he wants to be ready to hit the ground running.
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