Barcelona defender Jordi Alba has described the club s silence over a potential new deal as strange .

The 29-year-old s contract ends in 2020 but he has yet to speak to the LaLiga champions about an extension.

Alba – who joined the club from Valencia in 2012 – wants to end his career at Camp Nou but is unclear whether the club shares his enthusiasm.

Speaking after Barca s 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid on Saturday, Alba said: I have no news.

I don t know what the club think of me and it s strange because there s not much more of my contract left.

My intentions are to finish my career here but we ll see as I don t know what their intentions are or when they think it will be convenient to call me.

 All over in the Wanda Metropolitano…

Romelu Lukaku made a swift impact from the bench for a second consecutive match as Manchester United beat Newcastle United 2-0 at St James Park.

The Belgium international was on the pitch for two minutes before rounding out Sunday s 4-1 win over Bournemouth and had only been on for 38 seconds when Martin Dubravka spilled Marcus Rashford s free-kick in his direction.

Rashford continued a purple patch in front of goal 10 minutes from time, meaning a fourth win in as many outings at the start of his reign for caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – a feat only previously achieved by club great Matt Busby.

Phil Jones, into the Manchester United defence for the suspended Eric Bailly, made a last-ditch tackle on Salomon Rondon to atone for his own absent-minded play…

Ollie Watkins revealed that his celebration in England s semi-final victory over the Netherlands was dedicated to both Lewis Dunk and Dean Henderson.

Watkins scored late to book England s place in the Euro 2024 final against Spain on Sunday as the Three Lions came back from Xavi Simons opener.

Harry Kane had levelled the scores from the penalty spot having been caught by Denzel Dumfries inside the box.

The Aston Villa striker netted only the second ever 90th-minute winning goal in a European Championship knockout tie, sparking wild scenes in Dortmund.

Watkins raced away after squeezing the ball beyond Bart Verbruggen, running towards the England bench to celebrate his fourth and most important international goal.

Both Dunk and Henderson, who …

Prediction: Cristiano Ronaldo to score first

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The Netherlands round off their international commitments on Monday evening as they take on Portugal at the Stade de Genève in Switzerland in an international friendly.

Ronald Koeman s men will be aiming to better their 1-0 defeat to England from Friday evening, whilst Portugal will be in a buoyant mood following their late victory over Mo Salah s Egypt.

Portugal

Cristiano Ronaldo was the catalyst for Fernando Santos men s victory over the Egyptians. The Real Madrid superstar netted twice in the closing minutes to overturn the deficit of Salah s opening goal. The result means that the current reigning European champions have won three out of their last four international friendlies…

The Newcastle Jets have bolstered their striking stocks with the addition of former Denmark international Morten Nordstrand until the end of the season.

The striker-cum-attacking-midfielder has spent the majority of his career in the top-tier of Danish football, with the exception of his early years with Lungby BK and the 2009-10 season, in which he was on loan at Eredivisie outfit Groningen.

He last played for Danish club AGF, where his contract expired this month, and scored three goals in 24 appearances over the last 12 months.

While not a prolific scorer, he did manage to win the golden boot in Denmark when he scored 15 goals for Copenhagen in their title-winning campaign of 2008-09.

It is goals his new club will want from him, with the Jets having sc…

Eden Hazard is still focused on Chelsea, according to Blues defender Cesar Azpilicueta, who hopes the forward stays at Stamford Bridge.

Hazard, long linked with a move to Real Madrid, only has one year left on his contract and has hinted at wanting to join the LaLiga giants.

Speaking after Chelsea s last Premier League game of the season, Hazard confirmed he has decided his future and informed the club of his intentions a couple of weeks ago .

Maurizio Sarri has indicated even winning the Europa League final against Arsenal later this month may not be enough to persuade Hazard to stay.

Chelsea fans unfurled a banner urging Hazard to remain at Stamford Bridge during the game at Leicester City on Sunday.

And Azpilicueta, who like Hazard has been a…

While he refused to go into more detail, Jerome Boateng admitted he was left saddened after hearing Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) politician Alexander Gauland s controversial comments towards him.

Gauland, the deputy leader of the anti-immigration party, was quoted by newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung as saying people like Boateng as a footballer, but wouldn t want to live next to someone like him in an apparent reference to the Bayern Munich defender s foreign roots.

Boateng was born in Berlin to a German mother and Ghanaian father, and has represented the German national team over 50 times since 2009, including their successful 2014 World Cup campaign. 

When asked about his thoughts on the comments, Boateng responded: I do not assess it…

Cristiano Ronaldo dreams of facing the magic Lionel Messi in the World Cup final as two footballing greats head into the twilight of their careers.

The 37-year-old Ronaldo will hope to help Portugal escape Group H, where they face Ghana next Thursday before clashes against Uruguay and South Korea.

Messi, 35, heads to Qatar with one of the pre-tournament favourites, Argentina, who start Group C against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, with meetings against Mexico and Poland to follow.

Having battled for centre stage against former Barcelona star Messi for numerous years, ex-Real Madrid forward Ronaldo admitted he would love to face his old foe in the World Cup showpiece on December 18.

It s too good, too good of a dream, Ronaldo told Piers Morgan on TalkTV in his…

With the Nations League taking center stage in midweek, we have a host of eye-catching affairs from across Europe. So, for those of you looking to stick on a Thursday flutter, we have found a handful of helpful tips that are worth keeping an eye out for.

Thursday June 9th

BST 19:45 Switzerland vs Spain

Starting with Thursday s guests, while Spain might have managed to snatch a last-gasp point on foreign soil last weekend, the European giants are still looking for their first Nations League victory. Now having to settle for back-to-back stalemates against the Czech Republic and Portugal, La Roja will be desperate to get their campaign off and running here. Despite being still firmly in the midst of a squad transition, Head Coach Luis Enrique finds his young squ…

Raheem Sterling hailed the winning mentality of Thomas Tuchel s Chelsea side as he targeted silverware after swapping Manchester City for the Blues.

Having won four Premier League titles in a successful seven-year spell with City, Sterling completed a £45million move to Chelsea earlier this month.

Chelsea s top league goalscorer last season was Sterling s England team-mate Mason Mount with 11, and the signing of the 27-year-old Sterling should give the Blues more cutting edge. Sterling s haul of 91 Premier League goals is a total that has been bettered only among City players by Sergio Aguero (184).

Chelsea have not won a Premier League title since Antonio Conte s men triumphed in the 2016-17 season, but they have collected several pieces of silverware in the…