Sunderland have announced they will no longer be signing Yann M’Vila from Rubin Kazan in January.
The midfielder spent last season on loan at the Stadium of Light and had hoped to make the move permanent.
He said he was “heartbroken” when a deal fell through, much to the frustration of Black Cats fans, who had seen him play a key part in their Premier League survival.
Sunderland instead committed to signing M’Vila when his contract at Rubin ran out in January but it appears the player has had a change of heart.
Sanchez and Ozil are not for sale
Manager Arsene Wenger said that Arsenal would not sell Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil even if the pair fail to agree fresh terms with the Premier League club.
Both players are in the final 18 months of their contracts and British media report that negotiations have faltered over salary demands.
The reports suggested Arsenal might cash in on Sanchez or Ozil in the close season, but Wenger said the club is doing all it can to tie them down to fresh terms.
“These players will stay for at least 18 months,” he said.
“We are professional people and we work until the last day of our contract with commitment.”
Conceicao named Nantes coach
Former Portugal international Sergio Conceicao has been named Nantes coach on a two-year contract, the troubled Ligue 1 club said yesterday.
Conceicao, who recently coached Braga and Vitoria Gui-maraes, will take over from Philippe Mao, the caretaker since Rene Girard was sacked following the club’s worst league defeat, 6-0 to Lyon, on December 2.
Nantes are second from bottom in Ligue 1 with 13 points from 16 games.
Mao will be on the bench on Saturday for a home game against Caen before making way for Conceicao.
Dynamo Kiev and Besiktas charged
European soccer’s governing body has charged Dynamo Kiev and Besiktas with disciplinary offences after their Champions League encounter in Kiev was marred by fan violence.
Ten people were treated in hospital for knife wounds after hundreds of Dynamo Kiev and Besiktas fans clashed in the Ukrainian capital before Tuesday’s match, which Dynamo Kiev won 6-0.
Both teams have been charged for crowd disturbances and fans setting off fireworks, UEFA said.
Dynamo have also been charged for insufficient organisation due to a lack of fan segregation and fans blocking stairways at the Olympiyskiy stadium.
Suarez to be offered new Barca contract
Barcelona’s prolific striker Luis Suarez will be offered a new contract with the Spanish champions until 2022, president Josep Maria Bartomeu said.
The 29-year-old Uruguayan collected the European Golden Shoe last season for the top scorer in domestic football in Europe with 40 league goals, helping Barca’s famed ‘MSN’ trio also containing Lionel Messi and Neymar score a record 131 goals in all competitions.
“Suarez is going to get a renewed contract very soon, it’s done, just a few small details need to be sorted and we’ll announce it in the next few days or weeks,” Bartomeu said.
“It will be a great Christmas present, not necessarily for Luis as he already knows he’s going to continue here, but for fans.”
Axel Springer to launch soccer daily
Publisher Axel Springer plans to launch Germany’s first daily sports newspaper next month, focusing on soccer as it seeks to offset a decline in sales at its established print business.
“We believe that the time is ripe for a soccer paper,” Matthias Bruegelmann, deputy editor in chief of Europe’s top-selling daily paper Bild, said, adding that high TV viewing figures and big attendances in stadiums underline strong interest in the sport.
He did not believe the new paper, which will be called Fussball Bild and cost €1 at newsstands, would take away readers from its existing publications such as the tabloid Bild and weekly Sport Bild.
Gremio win Brazilian Cup
Gremio won the Brazilian Cup for a record fifth time on Wednesday after a 1-1 draw at home to Atletico Mineiro in an emotion charged game that honoured the players from the Chapecoense team killed in an airplane crash.
The 55,000 fans at the Arena Gremio observed a minute’s silence before the game, the first senior match in Brazil since 71 people, including the bulk of the Chapecoense side, were killed in the airplane crash in Colombia.
Gremio, who last lifted a major trophy 15 years ago, clinched the Brazilian Cup 4-2 on aggregate after they won the first leg 3-1 two weeks ago.