Kyle Walker extends Man City contract till 2026
MANCHESTER, Sep 15: Kyle Walker has signed a contract extension at Manchester City until 2026, the club said Thursday.The England defender’s future had been in question after links with a move to Bayern Munich during the last transfer window.Those doubts were ended after confirmation of an extension for the 33-year-old Walker, who joined City from Tottenham in 2017. Walker has won five Premier League titles, the Champions League, two FA Cups and four League Cups in his time at the club. He has won 15 trophies in total at City, where he has made 260 appearances. (AP)
Joao Palhinha signs new deal with Fulham
LONDON, Sep 15: Joao Palhinha extended his contract at Fulham on Thursday, tying him to the club through the 2027-28 season less than two weeks after he nearly joined Bayern Munich.Palhinha’s new deal includes an option for the Premier League club to add an extra year.The Portuguese midfielder arrived in Munich for a medical check at Bayern on Sept. 1 but no deal was completed before the transfer window closed at the end of the day. Palhinha appeared to refer to that in a statement released by Fulham. (AP)
La Liga to set up football academy in West Bengal
KOLKATA, Sep 15: La Liga signed an agreement with the West Bengal government to set up an academy in the state for nurturing young talents, an official said on Friday.The MoU was signed during a closed-door meeting between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and La Liga president Javier Tebas in Madrid, he said.Banerjee, who is on a 12-day trip to Spain, met Tebas in Madrid on Thursday evening and held a closed-door meeting, which focussed on strengthening relations through linking sports and cultural institutions.“This remarkable MoU intends to promote football to foster sportsmanship, health, and prosperity. La Liga will develop a football training academy in West Bengal,” the official said.According to the agreement, coaches and players from the state will be trained by the coaches of La Liga. (PTI)
Indian shotgun contingent to miss out on foreign coaches
NEW DELHI, Sep 15: India’s two foreign coaches in shotgun, Marcello Dradi and Ennio Falco from Italy, are highly unlikely to accompany the Indian shooting contingent to the Asian Games due to accreditation and contractual technicalities.Trap coach Dradi and skeet expert Falco were appointed India’s shotgun coaches following the National Rifle Association of India’s (NRAI) fallout with Australia’s Russell and Lauryn Mark, who quit earlier this year.Dradi will likely miss out as his contract with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) was signed after the ‘long list’ of athletes and accompanying officials had already been finalised by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and sent to the Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee (HAGOC).Indian trap coach Vikram Chopra will accompany the trap contingent while Jitender Beniwal will most likely accompany the skeet contingent. Asian Games gold medallist in double trap Ronjan Sodhi termed the development “disappointing”. (PTI)