Key events
Jordan Pickford saigns new deal with Everton
The 28-year-old England goalkeeper has committed his future to the club by signing a new four-and-a-half year deal. “It’s massive to sign this new contract at such a special club for me,” he told Everton TV. “The support I’ve had from everyone at the Club since I joined as a 22-year-old has been so important to my family and me. I’m happy here and so are my family. We love it at Everton.
“Everton is a massive club. The past few seasons have not been what we wanted but we now have a manager who I believe will point us in the right direction and get us up the table. It’s definitely my aim to be successful at this club. The fans, the staff and my teammates have been great with me from the moment I joined and I want to be great for them.
“I just want to keep working hard and performing for Everton. We know we are in a tough place at the moment in the league but I’m eager to help the team improve this season and then aim for success in the future, which will include playing in our new stadium.
“This contract will take me to more than 10 years at Everton and I want to build a legacy here to put myself up there with the likes of Neville Southall to be one of the best keepers to have played for Everton.”
China national team: The Chinese Football Association has appointed Aleksandar Jankovic as the head coach for China’s men’s team, it has announced in a statement. The appointment was made for the preparation of 2023 Asian Cup and the 2026 World Cup Asian Qualifiers, the association said. The 50-year-old Serb is a former manager of Red Star Belgrade, Mechelen, Standard Liege and has been involved with the China under-age and senior set-up since 2018.
Arsenal: During his press conference, Mikel Arteta took time to reflect on his team’s hard-fought win against Aston Villa last Saturday. Arsenal were forced to come from behind twice before scoring two goals in added time to secure all three points.
“There is a much better better mood, much more positive,” he said. “The confidence is much better, the environment around training is much better. The fact the team showed the capacity in an adverse situation; when you are 2-1 down and played less than 72 hours before and everyone is expecting you to be tired mentally – to be able to come back and win the game is a real big boost for us.”
Arsenal: Mikel Arteta has got his pre-match media duties out of the way early doors, telling reporters that Thomas Partey is back from injury and in contention to feature in the Arsenal squad travelling to Leicester this weekend. He also said Gabriel Jesus is nearing a comeback having been out since the World Cup, but had no further updates on the contract negotiatians between either Bukayo Saka or William Saliba and the club. “We want to create a long-term project here and to do that we need our best players to be committed to the club,” he said.
Southampton hand Sellés reins until end of the season
Following their win over Chelsea last weekend, Southampton have confirmed Rubén Sellés has been appointed as manager until the end of the season after convincing the hierarchy he can steer the club clear of relegation. Ben Fisher has the latest …
A big weekend of football …
Greetings one and all. Another busy weekend of football looms, with this one incorporating the first cup finals of the English and Scottish seasons. They’re both difficult to call, with Manchester United and Newcastle United duking it out at Wembley on Sunday afternoon in the denouement of the Carabao Cup, while Celtic take on Rangers in the final of the Viaplay League Cup at Hampden Park.
Before those showpiece events there’s plenty of league business to be taken care of and we’ll bring you news from the various managerial press conferences scheduled for today. There’s also the small matter of the Europa League draw, in which Manchester United and Arsenal will find out who they face in the last 16.
Performing far better in the Europa Conference League than they are on the domestic front, West Ham will also learn who they must face in the next round of Europe’s third tier competition.
