Fiorentina and Brazil midfielder Felipe Melo has agreed a contract extension of a year with the club, taking him up to June 2013.
A statement on Fiorentina’s website (www.violachannel.tv) said an unspecified escape clause would be inserted into the deal. Melo has been linked with Arsenal and Inter Milan.
It reads: “Fiorentina announces that its sporting director Pantaleo Corvino met in Milan with Felipe Melo’s agent and an agreement was reached to extend the player’s contract until 2013 with a buy-out clause also included.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal have given professional contracts to four defenders – Luke Ayling (17), Craig Eastmond (18), Cedric Evina (17) and 18-year-old keeper James Shea, all part of the successful FA Youth Cup winning squad.
Eight players have been released including Amaury Bischoff and Rui Fonte.
Meanwhile the Guardian emphases a second letter from an Arsenal fan, who first wrote last year about abandoning the white sleeves in the home kit, pointing out that the club have never won anything without the home/away combination of red shirt with white sleeves and yellow shirt with blue sleeves.