Bournemouth’s Jack Wilshere has delayed a decision on his Arsenal future as the on-loan midfielder focuses on helping the south coast club to retain their place in the Premier League.
Wilshere has a year remaining on his Arsenal contract but British media reported that the north London club are yet to open talks regarding a new deal with the 25-year-old.
“I’m not thinking about my future,” Wilshere said.
“My main concern at the moment is trying to keep Bournemouth in this league. I’ve got a year left at Arsenal. As soon as the season ends, I’ll sit down and I’ll think about it.”
Pochettino backs Son to replace Kane
Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has backed striker Son Heung-min to step up in the absence of league joint-top scorer Harry Kane, who is sidelined with an ankle injury.
Kane left the field just 10 minutes into a 6-0 FA Cup thrashing of Millwall on Sunday.
“I’m very happy with Son. He can play like a striker. One of our best performances was against Manchester City and he was the striker when Harry was injured,” Pochettino said.
“I think we have different possibilities, to play different formations. Of course I’m disappointed by Harry’s injury but now we have to find solutions and see which is the best player to replace him.”
Petr Cech leaps to defence of Sanchez
Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech has defended striker Alexis Sanchez, dismissing media reports saying the Chilean was laughing at the side’s collapse against Bayern Munich.
Sanchez was seen to be laughing with Cech on the bench after the striker had been substituted in the 73rd minute of the 5-1 loss at the Emirates.
“It is sad and he was as sad as I have seen him,” Cech said.
“I found it very disrespectful to the player. But obviously you can interpret the picture the way you want, unfortunately.
“But we the players, we know exactly what he said and we know how he was hurting and he was as disappointed as anybody else.”
Miura, 50, improves scoring record
Kazuyoshi “King Kazu” Miura scored the only goal in Yokohama FC’s win over Thespa Kusatsu in J-League 2 at the weekend to better his own mark as the oldest goalscorer in Japanese professional football.
The former Japan striker found the net in the 40th minute of Sunday’s match for his first goal of the season at the age of 50 years and 14 days.
“I’m always looking to score, but I had an especially good feeling today,” Miura, who is in his 32nd year as a professional, told Kyodo news.
Henderson out of England matches
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson will not be available for England when Gareth Southgate names his squad this week for a friendly with Germany and a World Cup qualifier against Lithuania.
The 26-year-old central midfielder has missed Liverpool’s last three league games with a foot injury and will not be fit to face Manchester City next Sunday either.
“The break, these two weeks, hopefully – it’s what we hope – (we) can bring him back, but there’s no game possible,” boss Juergen Klopp said.
“He cannot train, he for sure cannot play against City and it makes sense that he is doing the rehab. Hopefully, he can run in the second week of the international break.”
Caixinha eye cup success at Rangers
New Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha hopes it will take him just 75 days to lift his first trophy.
The Portuguese coach met his new squad for the first time yesterday after being appointed the Ibrox outfit’s 16th manager over the weekend.
He was at Celtic Park to watch the team earn a point in Sunday’s 1-1 Old Firm draw but now he says he is aiming to go one better when the bitter rivals clash in next month’s Scottish Cup semi-final.
He told RangersTV: “In a massive club like this, I would identify three points: the history, the trophies and the fans.
“Regarding the goals, at all times we must focus on the trophies, and we are in the cup semi-final, so we need to think about winning that trophy.”
Lyon’s Depay scores stunning goal
Memphis Depay made the kind of impact Manchester United once expected of him when he scored from 50 yards in Lyon’s 4-0 win over Toulouse on Sunday.
The Dutch forward endured a disappointing 18-month stay at Old Trafford but on Sunday he laid out his ability for all to see with a stunning goal in Ligue 1 to cap Lyon’s handsome victory.
In the 82nd minute he collected the ball just inside the Toulouse half, turned in a circle and launched the ambitious effort that sailed over goalkeeper Alban Lafont.
“I think it’s amazing. I tried it a couple of years ago and it hit the crossbar. It’s a beautiful goal. I’m very happy.”