FOOTBALL SHORTS

ARSENAL manager Unai Emery has warned Aaron Ramsey not to let his contract stand-off with the club affect his performances. The midfielder’s £110,000-a-week deal is due to expire at the end of this season. Talks having been ongoing for several months but Arsenal have so far refused to offer Ramsey the increase he is after. ‘I spoke with him last week,’ said the Arsenal manager. ‘I said, “I want you focused only on training and only on the match. Show us the capacity to help the team”.’

MANUEL PELLEGRINI has warned West Ham fans to be patient after admitting he still does not know his best starting line-up. ‘It is very difficult to say how long it will be,’ he said. ‘I know the other teams that I had always produced that quality in the end and I am going to do that here as well.’

WES HOOLAHAN is in talks with League One side Fleetwood Town, managed by Joey Barton. Hoolahan, 36, has been a free agent since leaving Norwich City in the summer.

MARTIN O’Neill is not assuming Declan Rice’s allegiance is a done deal, even though the 19-year-old West Ham defender has played three times at senior level for the Republic of Ireland. ‘I never take anything for granted at all. We want him (Rice) to play for us. The choice will be his,’ said O’Neill. O’Neill is set to meet with London-born Rice over the weekend before naming his squad on Monday for the UEFA Nations League opener in Cardiff on Thursday week.