French defender Eric Abidal has claimed that Barcelona didn't offer him a new playing contract after recovering from a liver transplant because they didn't want to assume the risk that something would happen to him whilst on the field. The 33-year-old returned to first-team action in early April after 14 months out due to the transplant, but he went onto make only four more appearances for the Catalans before the end of the season.

Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis said on Thursday that he believes manager Arsene Wenger is committed to the club for "the long term", despite media reports linking him with a switch to Paris Saint-Germain. Wenger, 63, will embark upon the last season of his current contract in August and with Arsenal's trophy drought now stretching to eight years, there has been speculation he could be tempted to leave north London for pastures new.

Lausanne's Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday upheld FIFA's one-year transfer embargo imposed on newly promoted French Ligue 1 side Nantes, due to a dispute over the signing of Guinea's Ismael Bangoura in January 2012. Nantes were accused of having incited Bangoura to unilaterally break his contract with Dubai's AL Nasr prematurely, before signing for the French club in January 2012.

Barcelona manager Tito Vilanova has said he hopes to hold onto goalkeeper Victor Valdes for at least the final year of his contract. The Spanish international confirmed on Friday that he plans to leave the Spanish champions when his current deal expires in 2014. And the 31-year-old was an unused substitute as Barca sealed their title triumph by matching Real Madrid's league record 100 points tally with a 4-1 win over Malaga. "Victor didn't ask me to play the game. We spoke and we decided that (Jose Manuel) Pinto would play," Vilanova told a press conference afterwards.