David Luiz has signed a five-year contract with Chelsea which will keep him at the Premier League club until 2017.

The Brazil international moved to Stamford Bridge in January 2011 in a 21-million-pound deal from Portuguese side Benfica.

Having been linked with a switch to Barcelona in the off-season, the 25-year-old who won both the Champions League and the FA Cup with Chelsea last season has ended speculation regarding his future by committing his long-term future with Roberto Di Matteo s side.

I am very happy to sign a new contract with Chelsea, Luiz told the club s official website.

It is a great club and I look forward to winning more trophies here. I want to play for a long time at the top level which is what playing for Chelsea means.

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Karim Benzema has agreed a four-year contract extension at Real Madrid that will keep him with the Spanish and European champions until 2021.

The 29-year-old striker is suffering with a hamstring injury and is not included in Madrid s squad to face Real Betis on Wednesday.

He will sign his new deal in a ceremony at the Santiago Bernabeu on Thursday.

Benzema joins team-mates Isco, Marcelo and Dani Carvajal in sealing fresh terms with Madrid over recent weeks, while head coach Zinedine Zidane told reporters on Tuesday that his own renewal was already done .

Working hard  back soon  

— Karim Benzema (@Benzema)

After joining from Lyon in 2009, Benzema has scored 182 goals across 371 appearances for Madrid but has not featured for Franc…

Real Madrid started their Champions League title defence with a hard-fought 3-1 home win over Stuttgart on Tuesday, with late goals from Antonio Rudiger and Endrick guiding them to victory.

Last season s Bundesliga runners-up Stuttgart were arguably the better side for long periods at a sold-out Santiago Bernabeu stadium, threatening a huge upset of the 15-time European champions.

Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made a string of critical saves to keep Madrid level, keeping out Jamie Leweling and Angelo Stiller before half-time.

Dani Carvajal also diverted a Deniz Undav shot against his own crossbar as Los Blancos rode their luck, but Kylian Mbappe drew first blood shortly after the restart, finishing from close range after Rodrygo led a quick counter…

Danilo Rinaldi has scored the first goal of the 2022-23 Champions League campaign, just 24 days after Vinicius Junior s winner in the 2021-22 final.

Vinicius delivered the decisive strike as Real Madrid lifted their 14th European Cup – double the total of any other side – with a 1-0 victory over Liverpool in Paris on May 28.

The next Champions League campaign is already underway with the preliminary qualifying rounds.

June 21 marks the first day of Champions League qualifying, with knockout rounds continuing until August 24 to decide which six teams will join the 26 sides who have confirmed places in the group stage.

And Rinaldi opened the scoring for San Marino s La Fiorita against Andorran side Inter Escaldes to kick off the continental campai…

Jack Grealish has hit back at criticism following England s Euro 2020 shoot-out heartache against Italy, insisting he wanted to take a penalty.

Gareth Southgate s side lost 3-2 on spot kicks following three successive failures from 12 yards by Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka.

The game had finished 1-1, with the teams unable to be separated in extra time after Leonardo Bonucci s scrambled effort midway through the second half cancelled out Luke Shaw s second-minute opener.

Much of the focus was placed on England s choice of penalty takers afterwards, with Southgate taking full responsibility for selecting who would step forward.

Rashford and Sancho were introduced during the dying minutes, while Arsenal teenager Saka had never taken a penalty…

AC Milan managing director Adriano Galliani wanted to bring Vincenzo Montella to San Siro two years ago, but is happy to have his man now.

The Rossoneri have lacked stability in the dugout since the departure of Massimiliano Allegri in January 2014, with Clarence Seedorf, Filippo Inzaghi, Sinisa Mihajlovic and Cristian Brocchi each only granted short spells at the helm.

Perhaps as a result, Milan have failed to qualify for European competition since, but the arrival of Montella ahead of the 2016-17 season appears to have put them back on the right path.

The former Sampdoria boss masterminded a 1-0 win over Serie A leaders Juventus on Saturday, closing the gap at the summit to just two points.

While Galliani would have liked to have placed Montella in char…

A record 9.63billion US dollars (£7.6b) was spent on international transfer deals in 2023, according to a new report from FIFA.

English clubs led the way, spending £2.3bn across the January and summer windows last year, out of a total which smashed the previous single-year record set in 2019 by more than two billion US dollars.

FIFA’s Global Transfer Report found Saudi Arabian clubs were the third-highest spenders on cross-border deals, splashing out 970m US dollars (£765.9m) in 2023 compared to just 50.4m US dollars (£39.8m) in 2022.

Chelsea were unsurprisingly identified as Europe’s top spenders on international deals, with five other English teams in the top 10 and a further five in the top 20.

The top 10 player transfers alone generated more t…

The New York Jets have a new coaching staff and the Carolina Panthers welcome back Christian McCaffrey, but there’s only one storyline in town for this game.

Sam Darnold, the former Jet who was picked third overall in 2018, will make his first start under center for the Panthers after being jettisoned by New York this summer. NFL betting lines have the Jets as 4-point underdogs with the sportsbooks expecting Sam Darnold to get revenge on his former team.

Find out if he will in our Week 1 Jets vs. Panthers picks and predictions.

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What will NFL Week 18 bring us? 

Football bettors step into uncharted waters, with the extended schedule and expanded postseason providing unique edges and angles we’ve never had before. The final slate of NFL betting in the regular season puts plenty in front of us: playoff pushes, potential rest spots, and mystery motives for those teams not making the cut.

We dig a little deep with our best NFL Week 18 spot bets – uncovering hidden value with our letdown, look-ahead and schedule spots.

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Getting NFL football three times in four days is a real treat, and I’m looking to cap off the weekend with more of my favorite NFL player prop picks for Sunday.

I’m looking at a rushing total for one of the fastest quarterbacks making a start in Week 15 as well as hitting an Over that the books should have adjusted two weeks ago.

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