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General Sports News

Real continue Liverpool chase

Author: Rose Young
Date: 24/07/2009

Real Madrid's sporting director Miguel Pardeza has restated that his club remain hopeful of being able to agree deals to bring Liverpool duo Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa to the Bernabeu.

Midfielder Alonso and defender Arbeloa are currently on tour with the Reds in the Far East, from where a Liverpool spokesman denied that any deal had been agreed with the Spanish giants.

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Chelsea's holding midfielder John Obi Mikel has pledged his long-term future to the club by signing a new five-year contract at Stamford Bridge.

The 22-year-old Nigeria international joined the Blues in 2006 from Lyn Oslo and has since racked up 130 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions.

Argentina legend Diego Maradona is reportedly being lined up for a major role with Portsmouth following the recent purchase of the club by Sulaiman Al Fahim.

The 48-year-old is currently the coach of the Argentina national team, but Al Fahim is confident of tempting Maradona to try his luck in England.

German club VfB Stuttgart have signalled an end to their bid to sign Netherlands striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from Real Madrid.

The Bundesliga outfit had made Huntelaar their top priority, having lost Germany frontman Mario Gomez to Bayern Munich earlier this summer.

However, following reports that a fee had been agreed with Real, Stuttgart's sport manager Horst Heldt told the club's official website: "We wanted to acquire Klaas-Jan Huntelaar because his playing style fits very well with our team.

"But we are not about to keep ourselves hanging on and waiting."

Left-hander Justin Langer has become the leading Australian run-scorer in the history of first-class cricket.

The 38-year-old, who played in 105 Test matches for the Baggy Greens surpassed Sir Donald Bradman's career total of 28,067 runs in making a century for Somerset against Worcestershire.

Langer set the new mark by driving Pears seamer Matt Mason to the cover boundary early on on the third morning of the County Championship clash at New Road.

He eventually fell for 107, his 86th first-class century in 354 matches, with his career total standing at 28,080, at an average of 50.32.

Northampton Saints have named young hooker Dylan Hartley as their new captain ahead of the forthcoming season.

Director of Rugby Jim Mallinder has chosen the 23-year-old international to succeed Bruce Reihana, after his impressive leadership skills in the Saints' European Challenge Cup success last season.

Salford City Reds forward Rob Parker has signed a two-year contract extension to remain at the Willows.

Parker, who temporarily captained the Reds earlier in the year, has been one of Salford's form players throughout 2009, but his season has been cut short due to a freak skull fracture.

In Formula One, Australian Mark Webber, who recently won the German Grand Prix, has signed a new one-year contract to remain with Red Bulls next season.

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