Neymar is close to signing a three-year contract extension with Barcelona that will tie the Brazil captain to the La Liga champions until June 2021, club president Josep Maria Bartomeu announced yesterday.

The 24-year-old forward is a reported target of top European clubs and his current deal expires in June 2018. El Mundo Deportivo reported yesterday that Manchester United were launching a “total offensive” to acquire Neymar.

But Bartomeu said: “Neymar does not want to leave Barca and we don’t want him to go.

“In the next few days we will announce his contract renewal for five seasons.”

Caparros, Jemez want Spain post

Joaquin Caparros and Paco Jemez have both declared their intention to become the next Spain manager if Vicente del Bosque does not continue in the role.

Former Sevilla coach Caparros and Jemez, who joined La Liga side Granada on a three-year contract earlier this month, are among the candidates to take charge of a national team that suffered an exit from Euro 2016 after Monday’s 2-0 defeat to Italy in the last 16.

Del Bosque, 65, said after the loss he would have talks with Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Angel Maria Villar before announcing his future plans.

Bournemouth sign Ake on loan

Left back Nathan Ake has joined Bournemouth on a season-long loan from Chelsea.

Ake, 21, signed a five-year deal at Stamford Bridge last year despite making only 12 senior team appearances and spent the previous campaign on loan with Watford.

The Netherlands under-21 international made 32 appearances for Watford last season.

Bournemouth also completed the signing of Lys Mousset yesterday on a four-year deal from French side Le Havre for an undisclosed fee.

Russia coach Slutsky steps down

Leonid Slutsky has stepped down as head coach of the national team, the Russian Football Union (RFU) said.

Slutsky announced he would not extend his contract after Russia were knocked out of the European Championship last week, finishing bottom of Group B with one point from three games.

“The RFU would like to thank Leonid Slutsky, who helped Russia to qualify for the 2016 European Championships, for his professionalism and we wish him all the success in his coaching career,” the RFU said.

“Information regarding the new coaching staff of the Russian team will be published on the RFU’s official website as soon as there is any information,” it added.

Giggs ‘set to leave’ Manchester United

Ryan Giggs has rejected an offer to stay at Manchester United and is ready to end his association with the club after 29 years, a British newspaper reported yesterday.

Giggs, who played 963 times for United after joining the club as a 14-year-old, worked as a coach under David Moyes and Louis van Gaal.

But the Daily Mail said he has decided against taking up an offer of a reduced role from new manager Jose Mourinho.

“Giggs’ representatives are now in negotiations with United over a pay-off for the final year of his contract,” the Mail said.

It was reported that Giggs has not spoken to Mourinho, who starts work at United on Monday.

Australian Mooy heading to Man. City

Australia midfielder Aaron Mooy has signed a three-year deal with Manchester City, joining the English Premier League side from sister club Melbourne City.

Mooy is a creative attacking midfielder who enjoyed a stellar 2015-16 season with Melbourne City, scoring 11 goals and providing an A-League record 21 assists.

Melbourne City were founded as Melbourne Heart but rebranded in 2014 after their purchase by the Abu Dhabi United Group, whose City Football Group (CFG) also owns and operates Mooy’s new club.

Six found guilty of match-fixing

A Swedish court of appeal has found six men, including three former players of the Kristianstads FF club, guilty of match fixing after one of the players admitted his involvement.

Two men found guilty of bribing the players to influence the outcome of games between October 2013 and June 2015 were given jail terms of 12 and 14 months, while the players themselves and another man involved in bribing them were placed on probation.

The ruling overturned an earlier district court verdict.

One of the players admitted to having received a bribe while the others denied any involvement, with the court deciding that the first player was telling the truth.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.