Evra agrees new deal

Patrice Evra has agreed a new four-year contract at Manchester United. The France left back made 47 appearances this season and helped the team to win the Barclays Premier League and Champions League. The 27-year-old had a year left on his present deal, after arriving at Old Trafford from AS Monaco two years ago. The defender had been linked with a move to AC Milan when contractual negotiations became protracted because of his pay demands. Evra has been named in the France squad for Euro 2008, which starts next week.

Barton gets a boost

Joey Barton, the Newcastle United midfield player, received a rare piece of good news yesterday when he was cleared of causing criminal damage. He was found not guilty at Liverpool Magistrates' Court of vandalising a taxi in March last year. Barton, 25, was last week jailed for six months for assault and affray. He is due to stand trial on June 30 on a separate charge over the alleged assault of Ousmane Dabo, his former Manchester City team-mate, last year.

Trapattoni keeps calm

Giovanni Trapattoni, the new Ireland manager, does not hand out praise lavishly and not simply because his grasp of English is limited. If his players thought that they would be lauded after their 1-0 win against Colombia on Thursday, they were mistaken. Robbie Keane, the captain, revealed that Trapattoni restricted his plaudits to a bare minimum. “He just said, ‘Thank you very much for your efforts' to every player,” Keane said. “That was it.”

McCabe in share bid

Kevin McCabe, the Sheffield United chairman, has launched a bid to claim full control of the club and delist it from the stock market. McCabe, whose Scarborough Group Holdings possesses 75.17 per cent of the shares, outlined his plans to the board on Thursday, although there has been no formal offer for the remaining stock. If successful, McCabe will split the football side of the business from property interests, as a safeguard against a depressed market.

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