Gareth Bale signs contract extension, wants to finish career at Real Madrid

Despite rumors linking him to a return to England, Gareth Bale looks like he’ll be spending the rest of his career as a top-level footballer at Real Madrid. He’s renewed his contract through 2022 and received a raise, so he looks likely to stick around at the Bernabéu until he’s 33.

When asked about rumors of a move, Bale claimed he’d never been informed it was a possibility.

“I couldn’t tell you if anyone’s been interested,” said Bale. “Since I’ve been here I’ve been fully concentrated on playing for Real Madrid. I’m very happy here which shows why I’ve signed another six-year deal and we never really speak about these things. If [United] have [shown an interest] they have, I don’t know about it. The main thing for me is to concentrate on my football and everything else is dealt with behind the scenes.”

Even as Madridistas criticized his form and English teams tried to turn those struggles into an opportunity for them, Bale continued to be valued by the people running things at Real Madrid. They were never interested in offloading him, and now they’re unlikely to ever be under pressure to let him go.

Matteo Mancosu’s winner for Montreal against New York Red Bulls. (@MLS)

Jogi Löw will remain Germany’s manager through summer 2020. (Kicker)

Bastian Schweinsteiger has been brought back from his exile. (BBC)

Meanwhile, Henrikh Mkhitaryan is doing extra training sessions to try and win over Jose Mourinho. (Mirror)

Pepe is going to miss a month with a hamstring injury. (ESPN FC)

Angry Wolfsburg fans confronted the team after their loss this week, accusing players of a lack of effort. (Bild)

Roma’s Alessandro Florenzi had knee surgery and will miss three months. (Football Italia)

James Yorke on what we’ve learned from 10 weeks of Premier League games. (Stats Bomb)

Luca Hodges-Ramon on the cultural differences that make Juventus vs. Napoli a big rivalry. (The Gentlemen Ultra)

Michael Butler interviewed Tim Wiese on his transition from goalkeeper to wrestler. Wiese stayed in character. (Guardian)

Montreal upset the Red Bulls and kept a clean sheet at home, too.

Giovani dos Santos sent the Galaxy to Colorado with a lead.

Jozy Altidore was at his best in Toronto FC’s victory over NYCFC.

Seattle stunned Supporters’ Shield holders FC Dallas with a resounding 3-0 win.

Here’s what happened in the Premier League this weekend.

Juventus is threatening to run away with the scudetto again after beating Napoli. (Black and White and Read All Over)

Real Madrid won comfortably to stay on top of La Liga, and the other big teams kept pace. (Managing Madrid)

Bayern Munich had no problem with Augsburg. (Bavarian Football Works)

And they’re huge title favorites after Dortmund dropped points in the Revierderby. (Fear The Wall)

EPL: Stoke City vs. Swansea City (4 p.m.) -- Bob Bradley tries to get a big win in front of an international TV audience.