Premier League
Everton trio sign new deals
Gareth Barry, Leighton Baines and Mason Holgate have all signed contract extensions at Everton. Barry signed a one-year extension to his current deal that expires at the end of this season while Baines commited his future until 2019 to Everton.
The young full-back signed a new five-year-deal that will see his contract not expiring until 2021.
Manager Ronald Koeman said, “He [Baines] is a key player for the team. Of course, sometimes you need to protect older players, with all due respect. Gareth is 35 but he is still so important for the team and I'm very happy he has extended his contract.”
Ranieri looks to replace unhappy starts in January
“I don't like to maintain players who are unhappy,” barked the Italian manager of the reigning champions. It was aimed at Jeffrey Schlupp, Leonardo Ulloa and Bartosz Kapustka who have all barely featured this season.
Kapustka joined the champions only in the summer. Ulloa has dropped down the pecking order with summer signing Islam Slimani, Shinji Okazaki, Jamie Vardy and Ahmed Musa all ahead of him in Ranieri’s preferences.
Ranieri continued, “If someone goes, and we have to replace this or that player, we can get rid of him easily.”
Man City to replace Bravo?
Pep Guardiola antagonised some Manchester City fans by alienating Joe Hart and sending him away on loan to Torino. Guardiola bought former Barcelona custodian Claudio Bravo but the Chilean has struggled to adapt to the pace and physicality of the Premier League.
According to various reports in the UK, the Spanish manager has seen enough. City are reportedly weighing up a £20 million bid for highly-rated Benfica goalkeeper Ederson Moraes.
The Manchester Evening News have also reported that Bravo has had enough of his misery in England and wants to go back to Barcelona.
Koeman says Barkley contract “not a priority”
Ross Barkley’s contract expires at the end of next season, but his manager says there are more important things for the club to attend to right now.
The Dutchman said, “We know it's about 18 months of contract left. It's not the priority now but in the New Year we will have talks about his situation and his future.”
