Reports in England claim Chelsea have triggered their option to extend Olivier Giroud’s contract by another year.

Giroud had been set to become a free agent, but Chelsea have decided to keep him as they weigh up whether to take their appeal against a two-transfer window ban imposed by FIFA to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

According to ESPN FC, Chelsea’s move to retain the France international follows their decision to break their policy of only offering one-year extensions to players over the age of 30 when David Luiz signed a new two-year contract earlier this month.

Giroud has made a positive impact since joining from Arsenal for £18 million in January 2018 and is the joint-top scorer in this season’s Europa League, netting 10 goals in 13 appearances to help Chelsea reach the final.

But he has been unable to break into Maurizio Sarri’s team in the Premier League, starting just seven of Chelsea’s 38 league games.

Speaking last month, Giroud said he would only agree to stay at Chelsea for another season if the club could assure him of a bigger role.

“Obviously I’m happy to be here,” he said. “The thing is I just want to enjoy. It’s not because I’m 32 and I’ve won the World Cup, because I don’t want to retire. I want to be first choice.

“With what I’ve achieved here, there is no reason they won’t give me one more year. But I need to be happy also.”

Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez has expressed his intention to return to the Spanish club as manager.

The former captain of the Nou camp has started his coaching career at Al Sadd, the Qatari club where he ended his playing career.

“My idea is to start managing here in Qatar to gain experience,” Xavi told EFE press agency, as cited by Marca.

“This will set me up to return to European football and yes, hopefully it will be Barcelona, but right now I am not in that position.

“I am not ready to take this sort of role at top level and I need to be able to take small steps before reaching my ultimate goal.

“I have many ideas and concepts of how I want football to be played and how I would like to pass that on to future players.

“I have always been a massive admirer of how Barcelona play, their control of the game and their style – it is something I want to reflect in my own career as Coach.”

Reports in England claim the Paul Pogba to Real Madrid saga has taken another turn, with Manchester United telling the France international he must hand in a formal transfer request to get the move.

As Zinedine Zidane begins to rebuild his side, he has warned countryman Pogba that it’s a case of now or never if he is to join him in Spain.

According to the Sun, while United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has reportedly conceded that Pogba does not want to play for his side any more, executive vice chairman Ed Woodward has said losing their record signing would only harm them further after failing to qualify for the Champions League.

And that means Pogba will have to try to force his way out by submitting a transfer request.

Reports in Italy claim that Tiemoue Bakayoko is set to be sent back to Chelsea after AC Milan baulked at taking up their £35million option to sign him.

Bakayoko was sent out to the San Siro last summer to spend the season on loan with Milan after falling out of favour at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea had decided the former Monaco star did not match up to standards after they had splashed out £40m to sign him in 2017.

They agreed a fee with the Italian giants confident that he would be able to perform better in Serie A than he did in the Premier League.

But the 24-year-old has enjoyed a turbulent time in Milan and fell out with manager Gennaro Gattuso.

Italian publication Calciomercato say that Milan have no interest in keeping the French international at the club longer than they have to.

The report claims they do not think the fee they have agreed with Chelsea represents good value for money for a player who has struggled to produce his best form in Italy.

That means Bakayoko now faces having to return to Chelsea – a club who do not really want to keep him.

And now the Blues face the prospect of having to find a club willing to match their valuation and come up with the kind of wages that will tempt him to move.

Bakayoko is thought to be on a salary of £5million-a-year, and that kind of money coupled with a large transfer fee would be hard for a lot of interested parties to come up with, report The Sun.

So Chelsea may have to be willing to take a major hit on the money they paid to sign him if they are to move him on from the club.

It is highly unlikely that the Blues will want to keep him around the first team squad even though they face a ban on signing any new players this summer.

There are reports Cristiano Ronaldo is not keen on Antonio Conte replacing Massimiliano Allegri as Juventus manager this summer.

Allegri’s five-season tenure as Juventus boss came to an end on Sunday as they celebrated an eighth consecutive Serie A title with a 1-1 draw with Atalanta.

Attention now turns to who will succeed Allegri at the Italian champions with former Juve manager Conte among the candidates.

But Italian newspaper La Repubblica report that Ronaldo made a negative gesture when it was put to him that Conte could be his next manager.

The Daily Mail claim the Portuguese forward is concerned his game would be hindered by Conte’s pragmatic approach while the former Chelsea coach is also a strict disciplinarian.

Conte, 49, managed Juventus between 2011 and 2014, leading them to three consecutive Serie A titles.

And though he managed Chelsea to the Premier League title in 2016-17, he had a number of high-profile fallouts with key players, including striker Diego Costa.

Libero reported that Ronaldo has suggested Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho should replace Allegri at Juventus, but more realistic candidates are Simone Inzaghi, Maurizio Sarri and Sinisa Mihajlovic.

Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde has cooled any talk of a bid for Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann in the next week.

The Catalan side are widely tipped to make a move for the French international this summer, after he turned down a move to the Camp Nou prior to the 2018 World Cup, with Valverde labelling him a ‘great player’ during his weekend press conference.

However the former Athletic Bilbao boss was clear in his focus that any potential move for Griezmann would have to wait until after their final game against Valencia in the Copa del Rey final on May 26th, report Football Espana.

“It is correct that contact has been made over this deal, and this is ongoing.

“However, the season is not yet over for us and we still have a Copa del Rey final to play.

“We must stay focused on winning both domestic titles.

“After the final there will be time for these things.

“At the moment, there is no update and we do not talk about players from other teams.”

Zinedine Zidane has admitted Gareth Bale does not fit in his Real Madrid team amid reports the Welshman is set to leave the Bernabeu this summer.

Bale was left on the bench for the duration of Real’s 2-0 home defeat to Real Betis on Sunday that brought down the curtain on their underwhelming season.

The 29-year-old has struggled to hold down a starting place in the Real side since Zidane returned in March and the manager has consistently refused to offer assurances over his future, reports SkySpors.

When asked about Bale leaving the Bernabeu after the defeat to Betis, Zidane said: “I don’t know if it’s the last game or not. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m sorry he didn’t get to play, but no-one knows what will happen. If I think a player doesn’t fit in the team I have to do what I think works best.

“No one can change what Bale has done for the team, but as a coach I have to live in the present. I have counted on other players more in recent weeks. I make these decisions when it is right to do so, and I must act in the best interests of the team at all times.”

Lionel Messi was on song as Barcelona ended their title winning season with an entertaining 2-2 draw away at Eibar this weekend.

Ernesto Valderde side’s trip to the Iprura was the final game of the last weekend, with much of the action crammed into a frantic first 45 minutes in the Basque Country.

The home side went ahead after just 19 minutes, as Barcelona loanee Marc Cucurella took advantage of Gerard Pique’s slip to beat Jasper Cillessen at his near post.

Barcelona hit back on the half hour mark, as Lionel Messi grabbed two goals inside two minutes – to bring his season tally up to 50 for the Catalan side in 2018-19.

Firstly he broke in behind the Eibar offside trap to side foot home Arturo Vidal’s through ball from six yards out, before grabbing his second, as some poor defending from the home side allowed him to run 40 yards onto Ivan Rakitic’s pass to chip over Marko Dmitrovic.

However, Jose Luis Mednilibar’s side found a equaliser right on the stroke of half time, as Pablo De Blasis lobbed home from 30 yards after Cillessen made an error in trying to punch a cross clear.

The second half failed to live up to the the first half, with Eibar look the more likely to pick up their first ever La Liga win over Valverde’s side – with Sergi Enrich and Charles Oliveira both denied by Cillessen.

Photo Credit: fcbarcelona