Soccer shorts

A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Buffon to stay with Juventus

JUVENTUS GOALKEEPER Gianluigi Buffon has confirmed he will remain at the Turin club next season.

Reports in Italy have linked the 33-year-old with a move away from the Olympic Stadium this summer after 10 years with the Bianconeri.

Buffon and Juve endured a difficult campaign under coach Luigi Del Neri. The Italy international made a total of 17 appearances while the club finished a disappointing seventh in Serie A.

However, Buffon said: “I remain and I will return to be the Buffon I once was.

“I feel a lot of love for Juve. In the past year with the club there have been some misunderstandings but I don’t want to blame anyone.

“The club executives have learned to know me better and, I hope, to also appreciate me more.”

Buffon is under contract with the Turin club until June 2013 and is eager to help the club return to their former glory. Juve appointed former midfielder Antonio Conte as their new coach earlier this month.

Enrique may quit Newcastle

NEWCASTLE manager Alan Pardew has admitted the club is struggling to persuade Jose Enrique to sign a new deal. The club said they wanted to make the Spaniard a “fantastic” contract offer to keep him at St James’ Park with his existing terms due to expire at the end of next season. But Pardew said: “At the moment, it looks like he doesn’t want to deal with us. I still hope we can do something but at the moment, we are still waiting for Jose.”

Jewell says no bid in for Wickham

CHAMPIONSHIP CLUB Ipswich Town have not received any firm bids for teenage striker Connor Wickham, according to manager Paul Jewell.

Liverpool and Sunderland are among a list of clubs in recent weeks to have been linked with the 18-year-old, who is currently away with Stuart Pearce’s England Under-21 squad at the European Championships in Denmark.

Jewell told the club’s official website: “Everyone seems to be talking about Connor, but there’s been no bid for him.

“We’ve had inquiries, but inquiries dont mean anything. I could ring up Barcelona and inquire about Lionel Messi, but it doesn’t mean I’ll get him.

“Connor is happy here and as far as we’re concerned he’ll be with us for next season. The good thing is that we don’t have to sell anyone.”

Wickham made his first-team debut for Ipswich as a 16-year-old against Doncaster in 2009.

Udinese striker Sanchez 'is worth over €35m'

MANCHESTER CITY target Alexis Sanchez is worth more than €35 million, according to Udinese owner Gianpaolo Pozzo.

The Chile international has been strongly linked with a move away from Udinese this summer, with Barcelona, Inter Milan and City in the race to acquire the 22-year-old winger.

“Sanchez? The right offer has yet to arrive,” said Pozzo yesterday. “Thirty five million euros is not enough for Sanchez. We already turned down a similar offer. A higher offer is needed.

“Sanchez is a very important player and we will see what happens but I have already spoken to Alexis and his agent. Alexis is a player that has a plenty of requests but his value is high. Its not an easy transfer for those that want to buy him. He (Sanchez) and his agent are intelligent people and they are the first to understand that we cannot give him away on the cheap.

Sanchez scored 12 goals this term to help Udinese qualify for the Champions League next season.

Reina has double hernia operation

LIVERPOOL goalkeeper Jose Reina is expected to be fit for the start of pre-season training after undergoing surgery on a double hernia. The Spain international had the operation last Thursday in Munich. The 28-year-old is currently on holiday but will begin a rehabilitation programme and the club said in a statement that they expect him to return with the rest of the squad for pre-season training early next month.

WALES MIDFIELDER David Vaughan has turned down Blackpool’s offer of a new contract and will leave the club in search of Premier League football.

The 28-year-olds deal with the Seasiders expired at the end of last season and is now a free agent.

“It was a very good offer and it was a tough decision, but I just want to stay in the Premier League and test myself at the highest level,” he said.

Scholes denies any malice in tackles

RECENTLY RETIRED Paul Scholes has rejected the theory there was any malice behind his infamous tackling technique.

However there were occasional haphazard challenges that bordered on the reckless. And following the final red card of his career, for a thigh-high challenge on Pablo Zabaleta in United's FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester City at Wembley in April, even Alex Ferguson admitted “the red mist sometimes descends” on the 36-year-old.

Yet Scholes, whose 90 yellow cards make him the third most booked player in Premier League history, feels his reputation is unwarranted. “I have just been unlucky,” he said. “I never had red mist against anybody. The one against Zabaleta, I didn’t do on purpose. It was just bad timing.”