Sporting briefs...

Helguera: Luis Figo's departure from Real Madrid marks the end of an era at the club, according to centre-back Ivan Helguera. "As a team-mate, a friend, and as a player it is a shame that he has gone," Helguera said. "As a player he gave everything to Real Madrid and helped the club win a lot of trophies. I think the arrival of Figo and (club president) Florentino Perez was a watershed for Real."

Camara: Premier League newcomers Wigan yesterday agreed to pay a club record £3million fee to Wolves for striker Henri Camara. The 28-year-old had spells on loan at Celtic and Southampton last season, after refusing to play for Wolves, and will finalise his move to Paul Jewell's team tomorrow.

Ibrahimovic: Media reports yesterday indicated that Juventus are looking to open talks with Zlatan Ibrahimovic over a new contract for the Swedish star. Last week, the Serie A champions tied Gianluca Zambrotta down to a new deal and are now ready to find an accord with their talented hit-man as well. Since his arrival from Ajax last summer Ibrahimovic has been in impressive form and Juve are now looking to reward his efforts by extending his agreement until 2010.

Rapaic: Croatia midfielder Milan Rapaic has told Standard Liege that he wants to return home and will not play for the club in the new season, which started this weekend. Rapaic has told sporting director Michel Preud'homme that he wanted to return to his home club Hajduk Split despite still having a year left on his contract, the club's website said.

Motta: Barcelona midfielder Thiago Motta will miss the start of the new campaign after having surgery on both feet. Motta had cysts removed from the big toes of his feet on Friday and club doctors said that he would be out of action for about a month. Barcelona play King's Cup winners Real Betis over two legs of the Spanish Super Cup on August 13 and 20 and then open their defence of the Spanish title at Alaves on the weekend of August 27-28.

Corradi: Parma have secured the loan signing of Valencia striker Bernardo Corradi. Corradi has opted to return to Italy after an unsuccessful spell in Spain with Valencia, despite interest from Manchester City. Valencia had also received an offer from Charlton during the summer, but Corradi was determined to go to Italy, and had no interest in playing in England.

Sheringham: West Ham striker Teddy Sheringham, 39, has turned down a coaching role at the club because he wanted to concentrate on playing, BBC reported yesterday. The 39-year-old, who has been widely tipped to go into management, said it is far from certain that he will. "When I came here I was offered the chance to get involved in coaching. I said no, that would be stepping on other people's toes," he said. "It's not automatic that I'll go into coaching, I've not got any badges yet."

Ligue 1: Played yesterday - Ajaccio vs Lille 3-3; Monaco vs Auxerre 0-2; ES Troyes AC vs St Etienne 0-0; Metz vs Le Mans 0-0; Sochaux vs Paris St Germain 0-1; Bordeaux vs AS Nancy 1-0; Lens vs Olympique Marseille 2-0; Toulouse vs Nice 0-2. Playing today - Stade Rennes vs Nantes; Olympique Lyon vs Racing Strasbourg.