Pogba may stay put at Juventus: agent

Wood ‘added’ to Lions squad West Ham pin 50 mln pounds tag on Payet

TURIN, July 12, (RTRS): Paul Pogba may stay put at Juventus despite talks about the French midfielder’s possible move to England or Spain, his agent Mino Raiola has said.

The 23-year-old Pogba, who played a pivotal role in France’s run to the EURO 2016 final, has been strongly linked with a return to English Premier League club Manchester United with Champions League winners Real Madrid also eyeing him.

However, a fee touted to be around a world record 100 million pounds ($130.65 million) could see Real priced out of a move for Pogba, according to British media reports.

“There is a lot of talk about Paul’s future, but maybe he will not leave Juventus,” Raiola told The Times.

“He is in no rush to leave, and Juventus do not want him to go. They want him to renew his contract. Paul is not desperate to move. We are very happy at Juventus and they are a club that want to keep their star players.”

Pogba’s contract at Juventus runs until 2019, while Raiola has worked closely with United during the close season as he wrapped up deals for his clients, midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan and striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Dimitri Payet is worth not a penny less that 50 million pounds ($65.3 million), West Ham United co-chairman David Gold has said, but even that might not be enough to prise the France midfielder LONDON, July 12, (AFP): England have called Mark Wood into their secondstring Lions squad for matches against ‘A’ teams from Pakistan and Sri Lanka, as the Durham quick continues his recovery from ankle surgery.

Wood has undergone two operations on his left ankle since he last played for England in the Dubai Test against Pakistan eight months ago.

The 26-year-old returned for Durham, initially as a batsman only, in one firstclass match and a Twenty20 since the end of last month.

But he is now set to be given an extended workout as a bowler after being added to an existing 13-man Lions squad, who will begin their campaign on Monday. away from the London club.

Payet, who joined West Ham from Marseille in June last year, scored 12 goals in all competitions in his debut season in England and was instrumental in helping France reach the European Championship final, scoring three times.

His performances for club and country have prompted speculation about a possible move to Chelsea, Manchester City or Paris St Germain, but Gold said West Ham would be reluctant sellers even if someone matched the huge fee.

“We wouldn’t even listen to any offer under 50 million pounds and even then we need to keep our best players so we just don’t welcome any offers at all for Dimitri,” Gold told the BBC.

“He’s instrumental, he’s important to us, the team is built round him and he’s not for sale. He’s settled in London with this family, the fans adore him and we’re going to the Olympic Stadium.

“We’ve done everything we possibly could do. I’m hoping that will be enough (to keep him).”

Meanwhile, Brazilian playmaker Willian has agreed a new four-year contract with Chelsea, the Premier League club said on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old, voted the London club’s Player of the Year last season by fans and team mates, said it was “a dream to continue”.

“Over the next four years I will try to help the team win more trophies,” he added.

Willian joined Chelsea in 2013 and was the standout performer last season in what turned out to be a wretched campaign for the defending champions. He has scored 19 goals in 140 appearances.

Chelsea, who finished 10th in the league and out of European competition, will have a new manager next season with the arrival of Italian Antonio Conte.

New Bayern Munich manager Carlo Ancelotti has no plans to rip up the foundations laid by predecessor Pep Guardiola and says he will look to continue the club’s tradition of attacking football when the season kicks off in August.

The Italian has large boots to fill as Guardiola, who switched to English Premier League side Manchester City this month, won three straight Bundesliga titles during his tenure at the Allianz Arena.

“I know very well that the style of Bayern Munich is to play attacking football and we want to play attacking football. I love to play attacking football,” Ancelotti told reporters on Monday.

“I’m not here to make a revolution because the job that Guardiola did here was fantastic and I would like to follow his style. I don’t think our style is going to change a lot compared to last year. The system will be more or less the same.”

Portugal’s Adrien Silva grabs France’s Dimitri Payet during the EURO 2016 final soccer match between Portugal and France at the Stade de France in SaintDenis, north of Paris, on July 10. (AP)