Manchester United's lingering hopes of enticing Bixente Lizarazu away from Bayern Munich were finally extinguished yesterday when he confirmed he would be staying with the European Cup champions.

After several months of speculation, Lizarazu, the subject of a £7.8 million sterling bid from United earlier this summer, has been offered a significantly improved salary which has persuaded him to remain in Germany.

"I am very flattered by the offers that have been made to me, in particular that of Manchester United. It is always pleasant to see that your work is recognised," said the 31-year-old French international defender.

United's reserve goalkeeper Raimond van der Gouw has signed a new one-year contract with the club. The 38-year-old Dutchman, a free transfer from Vitesse Arnhem five years ago, has made only 26 starts for Alex Ferguson's side and faces further competition for his role as Fabien Barthez's deputy with the arrival of Roy Carroll from Wigan, who yesterday signed a four-year contract.

The new Premiership season may still be over three weeks away, but England were yesterday dealt a blow with the news that Liverpool are hoping to withdraw their players from the friendly international against Holland on August 15th. The fixture, to be staged at Tottenham Hotspur's White Hart Lane stadium, takes place three days before the start of the new league campaign.

Italian striker Fabrizio Ravanelli has said he will sign for Derby County today. The latest development in the long-running saga came yesterday after the former Middlesbrough player met Lazio's general director Massimo Cragnotti at their training camp in Riscone Di Brunico.

Brazil have unveiled lowly Panama as their opponents for a friendly next month after being humiliatingly snubbed by Jamaica, Guatemala and Honduras. All three countries decided they had better things to do as they turned down invitations to travel to southern Brazil for a friendly in Curitiba on August 9th.

Spanish champions Real Madrid will celebrate their centenary with a match against a selection of the top players in the world on December 18th, 2002, the Spanish Football Federation announced yesterday.

Portuguese international winger Simao Sabrosa has left Barcelona and signed a five-year contract with Lisbon's Benfica. Rivaldo has confirmed that his contract dispute with Barcelona is over and that he has withdrawn his threat not to turn up at pre-season training.