Author: David McGeady

The Italian coach claims he is happy with the Portuguese defender and says the €30 million man will not be moving on before the transfer window closes on Monday

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti says Fabio Coentrao will be staying at the Spanish side, despite continued interest from Tottenham.

With the transfer window set to close on Monday, the Portugal defender had been linked with a last-minute move to Spurs, as Gareth Bale prepares to travel in the other direction in a €100 million deal.

Ancelotti had previously revealed that Coentrao was keen to leave Madrid, but the left-back – a €30m buy from Benfica in 2011 – now looks set to stay at the Santiago Bernabeu.

“Coentrao is staying with us and everyone is happy,” Ancelotti told the media after Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 in La Liga on Sunday. “I never wanted him to leave.”

However, the Italian coach did not call up the Portugal defender for Sunday’s game and refused to rule out player exits on what is likely to be a busy transfer deadline day for Madrid, with Bale set to be presented on Monday afternoon.

“I really don’t know what will happen tomorrow – I can’t say at the moment,” Ancelotti added. Anything can change, in incomings and outgoings…”

And Madrid’s director of international relations, Emilio Butragueno, also hinted at a busy Monday for Real.

“There are 36 hours left in the transfer market,” he told Canal Plus. “Not just for Real Madrid but for all the clubs. It will be hectic.

“Tomorrow night everything will be revealed.”

The Italy international, who spent last season on loan with Fiorentina, is expected to sign for the season from Palermo and provide competition for current No.1 Wojciech Szczesny

Arsenal have reached an agreement with Palermo to sign goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano.

The 27-year-old Italy international is due to fly to London on Sunday night to discuss personal terms with the Gunners and undergo a medical, which is expected to take place on Monday morning.

The deal is likely to be a season-long loan, which gives Arsenal the option to buy Viviano at the end of the campaign.

It is understood that Arsenal will pay a substantial loan fee for the keeper, who became available after his club Palermo were relegated to Serie B.

Viviano spent last season on loan at Fiorentina but they have not taken up an option to buy him and he is now expected to complete a move to Arsenal before Monday night’s transfer deadline.

Arsene Wenger turned his attention to Viviano after continually revising his list of goalkeeping targets during the summer.

Arsenal had made moves for a string of keepers, including QPR’s Julio Cesar, Valencia’s Vincente Guaita and Stoke City’s Asmir Begovic.

The 21-year-old has penned a five-year deal after impressing for Porto as they won the Portuguese league last term and will now join the Eredivisie side on a season-long deal

Chelsea have signed Christian Atsu from Porto on a five-year deal.

The 21-year-old midfielder will move to Eredivisie side Vitesse Arnhem on loan for the rest of the season.

Liverpool were in pole position to sign the Ghana international before displaying a reluctance to meet the Portuguese club’s €4 million asking price for a player who has just a year left to run on his current contract.

Atsu becomes Jose Mourinho’s seventh summer signing since rejoining the club for a second spell following the arrivals of Cristian Cuevas, Samuel Eto’o, Andre Schurrle, Mark Schwarzer, Marco van Ginkel and Willian.

The attacker made his first-team breakthrough at Porto last term, clocking up 17 appearances as the club won the Portuguese league, and will now look to continue his development at Vitesse due to the fierce competition for places at Stamford Bridge.

Question marks continue to be raised over Juan Mata’s future at Chelsea after limited playing time so far this season, but Mourinho has insisted the two-time Player of the Year is not for sale.

Elsewhere, Victor Moses has been linked with a move to Liverpool ahead of Monday’s transfer window deadline.

Juventus sporting director Giuseppe Marotta reveals that the Italian giants have called a halt to their pursuit of the winger, insisting he agreed new terms with David Moyes’ side

Manchester United winger Nani has signed a new deal to stay at the club, according to Juventus sporting director Giuseppe Marotta.

Goal exclusively revealed back in July that David Moyes considered the winger a part of his first-team plans and that he was considering handing the former Sporting Lisbon star a contract extension.

Nani had previously been courted by the likes of Roma, Monaco and Galatasaray over the summer although Marotta is adamant he has agreed a new contract at Old Trafford and that Juve never entered negotiations.

He told reporters: “He has renewed his contract with Manchester United and we never negotiated for him.”

The 26-year-old has yet to feature for the Red Devils in the 2013-14 campaign although Moyes revealed on Friday that he is close to being available for selection after an injury-plagued pre-season.

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The Tottenham forward will complete his move to Real Madrid imminently and his new coach is anxious for the Welshman to make up for lost time in pre-season

By Ben Hayward

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has devised a special fitness plan to speed up Gareth Bale’s integration into the squad once his transfer from Tottenham is finally sealed.

The 24-year-old has not played an official game since scoring for Spurs in a friendly win against Swindon on July 16 and will only start training with Madrid on September 11 because of international duty with Wales.

Ancelotti is determined for Bale to be match fit as soon as possible and has tasked his trusted conditioning coach Giovanni Mauri with structuring a tailored programme.

This will include monitoring the forward’s diet, extensive gym work and match simulation exercises. Madrid are set to complete the signing of Bale in the next 24 hours and plan to unveil their new player on Monday, but the Spanish side are frustrated that he will head off with Wales immediately.

A deal with Tottenham has been in place for several days and Madrid had hoped to unveil Bale last Tuesday, but Spurs are still busy in the transfer market themselves and discussions over how the fee will be paid have held up the announcement.

Madrid erected a stage in the stands for Bale’s presentation on August 23, but the Blancos have been forced to dismantle the construction for the visit of Athletic Bilbao in La Liga on Sunday.

Madrid may now opt to unveil Bale on the pitch itself, as they did with Cristiano Ronaldo among others, and president Florentino Perez hopes for a packed-out Bernabeu as most madrilenos return from their summer holidays this weekend.

Provided all goes according to schedule with his fitness plan, Bale could be in line for his long-awaited Madrid debut away to Villarreal in the Primera Division on September 14.

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