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AC Milan forward Stephan El Shaarawy has claimed Real Madrid and Manchester City tried to sign him this summer.

In an interview with FourFourTwo magazine, the Italy international revealed he was happy to stay at the San Siro because he is a lifelong fan of the club and would not consider a future away from the Rossoneri.

El Shaarawy is on a long-term deal with AC Milan having signed a contract extension to keep him at the club until 2018.

He joined the Italian giants from Padova two years ago and has impressed the club management and fans with his pace.

Speaking to the magazine he said: “I was very happy that Manchester City and Real Madrid wanted to sign me, but I want to stay where I am.

“I am a Milan fan and Milan is my home. This is a big club that aims very high, and I feel like I am a part of it now.”

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Real Madrid forward Alvaro Morata has said his is confident of having a successful future at the club and is happy that Carlo Ancelotti is keeping tabs on his progress.

The 20-year-old striker was in fine form for Spain in the European Under-21 Championship this summer, and has carried that on into the new season, scoring five goals in his last two games with the national side.

He was promoted to the Real first team squad this season and has made one appearance in La Liga so far, but told AS he is confident about what the future holds, despite rumours emerging Los Blancos will attempt to sign another striker in the January transfer window.

Morata said: “I’m sure Ancelotti will have seen the Spain Under-21 games and kept a close eye on me, Jese (Rodriguez), (Daniel) Carvajal and [Fernando] Pacheco.

“I have no doubt that he has seen us play and is taking us into consideration for his next team selection. It’s up to us to keep on working.

“People are always talking about Madrid signing other attackers, but I will just try and do my best to show that I am good enough to play for Madrid and so will Jese.”

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Madrid sports daily As states today that Cristiano Ronaldo is about to extend his contract with Real Madrid. “Cristiano: renewal now”, they title.

“Florentino Perez will announce the deal before the club’s assembly of September 22nd”, they claim.

Meanwhile, Marca maintains that Gareth Bale has problems in his inner thigh and will miss today’s Wales game against Serbia.

“The Welshman passed a number of medical tests yesterday that did not reveal any injury”, they point out.

“However, his coach doesn’t want him to take any risks”, they add.

If an injury is confirmed, Bale would join Marcelo, Isco and Cristiano Ronaldo in Madrid’s infirmary, as they have also return from their international games with physical problems.

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Real Madrid left back Fabio Coentrao has said his failed deadline day move to Manchester United would have been a step down for him.

The Portuguese international was close to a season-long loan move to Old Trafford, but when Real’s attempts to sign Guillerme Siqueira failed, the pulling the plug on Coentrao’s switch.

Speaking to Portuguese newspaper O Jogo, the defender, who was signed by Los Blancos for 30 million euros, said he was pleased to still be at the club.

“There was the possibility of joining Manchester United, but I stayed at Real Madrid, and that’s what matters,” he stated.

He added that he was happy to remain and fight for his place at the Santiago Bernabeu as he feels he is “at the best club in the world” so a move away would be a step down.

“I want to do better than I did last season, although I was at a very high level already. I want to show everyone that I deserve to be at Real Madrid,” he added.

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Cristiano Ronaldo could miss next Saturday’s La Liga clash against Villarreal due to tendonitis in a thigh muscle injury.

The Portuguese had already suffered some problems prior to the World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland, but he decided to risk worsening the injury in order to help his national team secure a place at Brazil 2014.

Portugal beat the Irish 2-4 with a hat-trick from Ronaldo, and with the job done he has returned to Madrid to start recovering, so he will miss Portugal’s friendly against Brazil.

Portugal team doctor Henrique Jones has admitted that Ronaldo made a huge effort to play and would need time to recover. “He had a week of intense treatment, he made an enormous sacrifice and now he needs to rest,” Jones told the press.

Ronaldo confessed he had an MRI prior to Portugal’s game that revealed the problem, but he decided to play. “It was my choice. I did it to help my country and it was worth it”, the Real Madrid’s forward said.

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Spanish sports newspaper Marca claims today in its front page that Real Madrid have 50 million euros prepared to sign a striker in January in case Karim Benzema doesn’t perform at the expected level.

“Falcao and Luis Suarez are Real Madrid’s favourites”, Marca states. “A clause in Falcao’s contract allows him to negotiate with Los Blancos if an offer arrives”, they point out.

Marca also reports that Isco has left Spain’s squad due to an injury in his ankle and has return to Madrid to start recovering.

As’ main story today is an interview given by Zinedine Zidane to Canal+ France in which he said “no player is worth 100 million euros”.

“Does Bale deserve that price? You’ll have to ask me again in a year”, Carlo Ancelotti’s assistant said. “Is unconceivable that someone pays that amount with everything that is happening at the moment”, he concluded.

Although Gareth Bale’s transfer cost hasn’t been revealed, reports say it could be between 91 and 100 million euros. Real Madrid claim it’s less than 96 million, while Tottenham Hotspur’s owner Daniel Levy states it’s more than 100.

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Young Real Madrid attacker Isco has pulled out of the Spain squad due to face Chile on Tuesday night because of injury, it has been confirmed.

The 21-year-old, who has started the season in sparkling form, has been struggling with an ankle injury that kept him out of his country’s win over Finland in Helsinki on Friday night.

National boss Vicente del Bosque has allowed the former Malaga man to return to Madrid to receive treatment rather than keep him in the squad set to play the South American out fit at the Stade de Geneve in Switzerland.

The news will come as a setback for Carlo Ancelotti, who already had bad news this weekend after left back Marcelo returned home from Brazil early after suffering a thigh strain.

The Italian boss will be hoping no more of his stars pick up knocks ahead of Los Blancos’ next match away at Villareal.

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Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has no concerns over whether Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo will be anle to play together in the same side.

The Welshman joined Los Blancos in a 91 million euro deal last week, but some pundits have said him and Ronaldo are too similar to be able to play alongside each other.

Italian boss Ancelotti, who has overseen his side to three wins in their first three La Liga matches, has no concerns over how the two will play together and says the team will adapt to their strengths.

Speaking to UEFA.com, Ancelotti said: “No [Ronaldo will not be used as a striker], I think we’ll be working out a system which will bring out the best characteristics of both players.

“You need to field the top players where they feel comfortable. Everything is going really well. Real Madrid is a massive club and it is well organised.

“I’m in no doubt at all that it will all work out well for him [Bale]. There’s been no problem at all in adapting. The team has changed a little since I came in.”

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Real Madrid left back Marcelo has returned to the club for treatment after getting injured in Brazil’s 6-0 friendly win over Australia on Saturday.

The defender was substituted during the match in Brasilia after picking up a thigh strain.

A statement released by the Brazilian football association said Marcelo would miss Tuesday’s game with Portugal and he would return to Madrid to begin his treatment.

It is believed the thigh strain will mean he is unavailable for Los Blancos’ trip to Villareal in La Liga next weekend.

Marcelo has played 27 times for Brazil scoring four goals along the way.

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Atletico Madrid defender Felipe Luis has said the dominance enjoyed by Barcelona and Real Madrid in La Liga is an injustice.

The two sides have occupied the top two positions in the table for the past five years, while the last team to win the title other than them was Valencia in 2003-04, then managed by Rafa Benitez.

Luis, who signed for the Vicente Calderon club in 2010 from Deportivo La Coruna, said the dominance Madrid and Barcelona has reached a point where the fight for La Liga has become boring and there are more interesting battles further down the league.

Speaking to sports paper AS, the Brazilian left-back said: “It is a tremendous injustice that the league is so unbalanced. That Barca and Madrid have budgets that are so immensely greater increases doubts that this is the best league in the world.

“It is more interesting lower down in the table than it is in the fight for the title. [At Atletico] we have to try to fight with our weapons. We, with much work and humility, have barely reached them.

“From humility we have achieved many things, but to fight them is very complicated.”

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