Christophe Galtier has extended his contract as coach of Saint-Etienne by three seasons, the French first division club announced on Thursday.

The 44-year-old took over as first team coach from Alain Perrin in December 2009, having arrived at the club as Perrin s assistant in November 2008.

Despite having been in charge of first-team affairs since the end of last year, Galtier was only tied to the club by his original contract as an assistant coach, which was due to expire in June 2011.

It s an important decision to bring stability and put the club on a long-term footing, club president Roland Romeyer told the Saint-Etienne website.

Galtier took Saint-Etienne, 10-time French champions, to the top of Ligue 1 earlier this season, but a subsequent nine-gam…

that Chelsea have turned down a £75m bid from Chinese side Jiangsu Suning for Oscar.

The news comes weeks after the same side signed fellow Brazil international Ramires from the Blues, and amidst a hub of transfer activity from the Asian division.

The league’s transfer record has been broken five times this season and the potential deal for Oscar was worth more than what Suning paid for Alex Teixeira this week.

Oscar moved to Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2012 and has so far racked up one hundred and seventy-nine appearances for the club, scoring thirty-eight goals three of which came in his sides 5-1 win over MK Dons in the fourth round of the FA Cup last weekend.

Having been held to a goalless draw by Watford on Wednesday, Guus Hiddink’s s…

Former Rangers, Aston Villa and Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish has taken the top job with Belgian side Genk.

The Pro League outfit sacked previous incumbent Emilio Ferrera after losing the opening game of the season 3-1 to Mechelen.

Genk have drawn their three matches since then and have now moved to appoint a man who counts two Scottish Premier League titles and an English League Cup crown among his honours as a coach.

It marks the end of an 18-month absence from the game for the 55-year-old, who left Nottingham Forest by mutual consent in February 2013 after just seven games at the helm.

McLeish, who has signed a two-year deal, will seek to restore the three-times Belgian champions to their former glory, with the club s last title having come as r…

Jose Mourinho has accepted a 12-month prison sentence and a fine of close to €2.2million after admitting to tax fraud in Madrid but will not serve time in jail.

The 56-year-old was accused of evading paying in the region of €3.3m in taxes on image rights while he was head coach of Real Madrid.

The Portuguese will not spend any time in prison as the sentence is for less than two years.

In 2016, Mourinho s representatives Gestifute released a statement insisting he was fully compliant with tax obligations after allegations of tax evasion first came to light via the whistleblowing platform Football Leaks’

However, he struck a deal with Spanish prosecutors last year, which was ratified at a court on Tuesday.

…

Paddy McNair is confident Jose Mourinho will bring trophies to Manchester United following his appointment as manager.

The former Chelsea boss was officially announced as Louis van Gaal s replacement at Old Trafford on Friday, signing a three-year deal with the option of an additional season.

McNair, 21, is impressed by Mourinho s track record and feels United are now in a strong position to add to the 2016 FA Cup, which is the only major trophy they have won since Alex Ferguson s departure in 2013.

He is a world class manager, he has won trophies in a lot of countries, McNair said to Sky Sports.

He has worked with the best players and with the best teams in the world. I feel like he can bring trophies to Manchester United.

McNair is in the N…

Chelsea secured the future of one of their brightest young talents by handing a new five-and-a-half-year contract to right-back Reece James.

The 20-year-old s breakthrough into Frank Lampard s first team this season is one of several success stories among a richly gifted crop of homegrown academy graduates at Stamford Bridge.

Full international honours are next on the agenda for England Under-21 defender James, with the experiences of his esteemed team-mates suggesting caps might not be too far away.

Even if the decision to give youth its head was in part informed by Chelsea s player registration ban during the previous transfer window, the success of his young stars means Lampard s faith has unquestionably been vindicated.

A Blue since the age of eight …

West Ham insist Marko Arnautovic is not for sale despite the forward s apparent interest in pushing through a proposed £35million move to the Chinese Super League.

The Hammers released a statement on Thursday confirming their intention to hold the Austria international to the five-year deal he signed in July 2017.

Arnautovic s agent and brother, Danijel, had only hours earlier revealed to talkSPORT that his sibling s  great desire was for the London club to accept the fantastic offer from an unnamed Chinese club.

West Ham, though, are determined to keep the influential 29-year-old and are adamant he will not be allowed to leave.

Marko Arnautovic has a contract and we fully expect him to honour it, the club s statement read.

He is not for …

Jurgen Klopp thinks Napoli can go all the way to the Champions League final if they can maintain their current level of performance.

The Liverpool manager has already felt the force of Luciano Spalletti s in-form side this season, losing 4-1 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on matchday one of the Champions League group stage.

Napoli sit top of Group A with five wins from five games, and also lead Serie A by five points after beating Sassuolo 4-0 on Saturday.

When questioned at a press conference ahead of Tuesday s return fixture at Anfield whether Napoli can reach the Champions League final, Klopp said: I think if they can play like they play at the moment, they have a good chance to go to the final I think Napoli is the team in form in Europe, they play real…

Raheem Sterling ended his goal drought as Manchester City edged closer to the Champions League knockout stages by grinding their way to a 4-1 victory over Club Brugge. 

Second-half substitute Sterling, who has become a peripheral figure at the Etihad Stadium since declaring his openness to a move away, struck for the first time since August in what ended up being a comfortable victory for Pep Guardiola s side, who moved top of Group A. 

Phil Foden put City ahead inside the opening quarter of an hour, but an own goal from John Stones restored parity two minutes later and the hosts struggled to create further chances in the first half. 

However, unlike in their 2-0 loss to Crystal Palace at the weekend, City found a way to break down a low block and secured all…

West Bromwich Albion midfielder Zoltan Gera has suffered a serious knee injury, scans have revealed.

Gera was forced off in the 21st minute of Saturday s 3-1 Premier League defeat at home to Tottenham.

The 32-year-old will undergo further medical tests this week to determine the extent of the damage and allow the planning of his rehabilitation.

The Hungary captain returned over the close-season to the club for which he made over 150 appearances between 2004 and 2008, after signing from Fulham on a free transfer.

Baggies manager Roy Hodgson told West Brom s official website: Zoltan has done really well since coming into the team three games ago and his performances quickly justified how highly we rate him.

We still don t know for sure how long h…