Neymar said Saturday that he wants to stay with Paris Saint-Germain and does not “need to prove” himself to anyone after five years with the French club.

The 30-year-old Brazilian said no one from PSG had spoken to him regarding his future but he wants to continue playing in the French capital alongside Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.

“I still want to stay here with the club,” Neymar said after PSG’s 3-0 win over J-League side Urawa Reds on the club’s tour of Japan.

“So far the club hasn’t said anything to me so I don’t know what their plans are for me.

“I don’t need to prove myself to anyone – I just need to play my football and I have to be happy playing football,” he added.

Neymar said he was feeling “fit” after coming on as a substitute with Messi to play the last 30 minutes of Saturday’s game.

He said it was “too early to speak about” his impression of new coach Christophe Galtier, who arrived at PSG from Nice at the end of last season.

Galtier said Neymar “has been working well” in pre-season and “seems happy and very fit”.

“What will happen in the near future when the transfer window closes, I don’t know,” said Galtier.

“We announce he’s leaving, we announce he’s staying – I haven’t spoken to Ney about this. But he doesn’t seem to be bothered about what is said about him and his situation at the club.”

Mbappe scored as PSG made it two wins out of two on their Japanese tour against Urawa in front of a crowd of 61,000 in Saitama.

Mbappe was the only PSG player retained in the starting line-up after Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Kawasaki Frontale and he fired home a well-taken goal from a tight angle in the 35th minute.

“Kylian Mbappe seems very happy to me, very fulfilled,” said Galtier.

“He is very dynamic in his training sessions.”

Pablo Sarabia and Arnaud Kalimuendo got the other two goals for PSG, who play Gamba Osaka on Monday in Osaka in the final game of their tour.

Galtier handed a start to Warren Zaire-Emery – just 16 years and four months old – alongside Marco Verratti in midfield.

“We had trouble getting into the game because the opposition was pressing us,” said Galtier.

“As soon as we got into the game we saw some interesting things, even if we still have a lot to improve when it comes to conceding chances.”

Technical director of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Augustine Eguavoen has kind words for the Super Falcons despite the team disappointing showing at the 2022 Africa Women Cup of Nations in Morocco.

The nine-time champions lost in the semi-final to host nation Morocco via penalties.

The Super Falcons also failed to claim third position, going down to a 1-0 defeat against the Copper Queens of Zambia in Casablanca on Friday night.

The third time the West Africans will not be competing in the final of the WAFCON.

Despite the team failure to claim a 10th title in Morocco, Eguavoen praised the players for their effort in the competition.

Super Falcons Raise your heads up high. This is a very young team that will continue to grow. There were a lot of brilliant performances on display in Morocco. Massive well done on Qualification for our Ninth straight FIFA World Cup. Be very proud, Eguavoen wrote on his Twitter handle.

Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan will fancy her chances of qualifying for her third straight semifinals in World Athletics Championships history when she files out for the third heat of the 100m hurdles first round on penultimate day of the ongoing competition.

The Nigerian, 25, has been drawn in a relatively easy first round heat with only the duo of Jamaica’s Danielle Williams and Switzerland’s Dijati Kambundji the tough nuts she needs to crack to be among the three automatic qualifiers for the semifinal.

Amusan is the fastest in the line up at 12.41 seconds and defeated Willaims four years ago to win the Commonwealth Games title in the Gold Coast, Australia.

However. the Jamaican denied the Nigerian the opportunity of winning her first World Championships medal three years ago in Doha where she edged Amusan to the bronze medal by two hundreth of a second (12.47 to 12.49).

The reigning African champion and record holder is bidding to become the second Nigerian woman after Glory Alozie to win a World Championships medal. She will also be targetting Alozie’s 12.44 seconds record at the Championships.

Amusan is her third trip to the championships. In her debut in 2017 she didn’t scale the hurdle to the final while three years ago she came agonisingly close to winning a medal, finishing fourth despite running inside 12.50 seconds thrice at the Championships.

Wilfred Ndidi stepped on the pitch for the first time in over three months as Leicester City defeated Derby County 3-1 in a pre-season friendly on Saturday afternoon.

Ndidi missed the latter part of last season’s campaign after sustaining a knee injury in Leicester City’s UEFA Europa Conference League clash against Stade Rennes.

The midfielder recently picked up a minor injury in training which derailed his return to action.

The Nigerian started the encounter against the Rams and was replaced on the hour mark by Senegal star Nampalys Mendy.

Ndidi’s international teammate, Kelechi Iheanacho was in action in the game.

Iheanacho, who was also named in the starting line-up, put the Foxes ahead early in the second half.

AS Roma manager, Jose Mourinho, is set to sign another Manchester United star, Eric Bailly.

Recall that Mourinho recently signed midfielder Nemanja Matic from Manchester United this summer.

However, according to Football Italia, Mourinho would like Bailly to join him at Roma.

Bailly was Mourinho’s first signing at Old Trafford during his spell as Man United manager and now would like to work with the centre-back again.

The Ivory Coast international has since fallen out of favour at Man United, with the club said to be hoping to receive a fee of around £8.5 million for his services.

Bailly has played 113 times for Man United since joining the Premier League back in 2016.

Nigeria forward Taiwo Awoniyi returned to the Stadion An der Alten Försterei on Saturday afternoon as Nottingham Forest lost 1-0 to Union Berlin in a pre-season friendly.

Awoniyi got a rousing reception from the 15,467 fans inside the stadium.

The 24-year-old was in the books of Union Berlin for two seasons.

The striker moved to Nottingham Forest from Union Berlin in a club record transfer.

Awoniyi returned to familiar surroundings today and was warmly received by his former teammates and the fans of The Iron Ones.

He missed a big chance to get on the score sheet in the game five minutes before the break.

In 65 appearances for Union Berlin before moving to the City Ground, Awoniyi netted 25 times and contributed nine assists.

Barcelona striker, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, has finally broken his silence on the club’s decision to sign Robert Lewandowski.

Aubameyang welcomed Barcelona’s decision to sign Lewandowski, insisting that he was really excited.

Recall that Barcelona recently signed Lewandowski from Bayern Munich.

Aubameyang and Lewandowski have experience of playing together before, combining to score 44 goals in their year together at Borussia Dortmund.

“I was really excited because I know him well. We played together at Dortmund and had some nice times over there,” the former Arsenal captain told ESPN.

“I was just happy and when this was official, we were reunited and we had some fun words about the past, but I’m really happy because this is how Barcelona will compete, with great strikers and that’s what this club is all about.

“Obviously, I think we have more experience, we can maybe do better than the past in Dortmund, I am sure about that.

“Personally, I will try to give my best and I’m sure he will do it. We hope we have better numbers than in the past.”

Barcelona striker, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, has finally broken his silence on the club’s decision to sign Robert Lewandowski.

Aubameyang welcomed Barcelona’s decision to sign Lewandowski, insisting that he was really excited.

Recall that Barcelona recently signed Lewandowski from Bayern Munich.

Aubameyang and Lewandowski have experience of playing together before, combining to score 44 goals in their year together at Borussia Dortmund.

“I was really excited because I know him well. We played together at Dortmund and had some nice times over there,” the former Arsenal captain told ESPN.

“I was just happy and when this was official, we were reunited and we had some fun words about the past, but I’m really happy because this is how Barcelona will compete, with great strikers and that’s what this club is all about.

“Obviously, I think we have more experience, we can maybe do better than the past in Dortmund, I am sure about that.

“Personally, I will try to give my best and I’m sure he will do it. We hope we have better numbers than in the past.”

World Athletics is pleased to announce the results of the Athletes’ Commission elections, which took place in Eugene during the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.

The six new Athletes’ Commission members voted on to the Commission are:

• Ivet Lalova-Collio (BUL, sprints) 615 votes
• Anna Ryzhykova (UKR, hurdles) 607
• Lea Sprunger (SUI, sprints/hurdles) 585
• Lisanne de Witte (NED, sprints) 560
• Matthew Hughes (CAN, middle distances) 555
• Toshikazu Yamanishi (JPN, race walks) 494

The newly-elected members will fill the spots of the following outgoing Athletes’ Commission members:

• Inaki Gomez (CAN)
• Kim Collins (SKN)
• Adam Kszczot (POL)
• Thomas Rohler (GER)
• Ivana Vuleta (nee Spanovic) (SRB)
• Benita Willis (AUS)

Outgoing and newly-elected members will participate in a handover meeting in November this year together with the continuing Commission member currently headed by Renaud Lavillenie (FRA, Chair) and Dame Valerie Adams (NZL, Deputy Chair).

“I would like to congratulate and welcome the six newly-elected members to our Athletes’ Commission and thank every athlete who has stood for election and who participated in the vote,” said Adams, who was actively involved in promoting the elections on-site in Eugene.

“With every year, the voice of the athletes becomes more powerful and proactive when it comes to promoting and advocating for athletes’ rights at a leadership level. I am sure the newly-elected members will greatly contribute to the future of our sport, with the athlete community in mind.”

Since 2019, the Chairperson and one other member of the Athletics Commission – one man and one woman – have been full voting members of the World Athletics Council.

This year’s elections were postponed by one year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Elections will be held again next year during the World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023, where six new members will be elected. Six additional members will also be appointed by the World Athletics Council to bring the number back to its intended 18.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said “The athlete’s voice has been enshrined in our governance structure for the past three years through the Athletes’ Commission and I am appreciative of the substantial contribution the Commission makes to our discussions at the Council level. I would like to welcome the six new members of the Commission and thank the six departing members for their service to our sport. With another election next year in Budapest, I would like to encourage more athletes to consider becoming involved in the decision-making of our sport.”