Croatian midfielder Luka Modric has signed a one-year contract extension with Real Madrid which will keep him at the Bernabeu until 2025, the LaLiga club said on Wednesday.
The 38-year-old Ballon d'Or winner in 2018 won a sixth Champions League crown as well as a fourth LaLiga title with Real last season.
Modric's previous contract expired at the end of the 2023-24 season but the Croatian told fans he would return next season when they were celebrating their Champions League triumph which extended Real's record to 15 European Cups.
No player has won more titles with Real Madrid than Modric, who has lifted 26 trophies since he joined the Spanish giants in 2012.
The veteran player was widely expected to retire, especially after his long-time midfield partner Toni Kroos, 34, announced his retirement at the end of the season.
Modric also had no plans to hang up his boots on the international stage despite Croatia's early exit from the recently concluded European Championship, where they were eliminated after the group stage.
"I'd like to keep playing forever but there probably will come a time when I must hang up my boots. I'll keep playing on, but I don't know for how much longer," said Modric, who has 178 caps for Croatia.
Carlos Alcaraz will miss the Madrid Open for the second consecutive year after withdrawing on Friday with a wrist injury, dealing another blow to the world number two's clay court preparations ahead of his French Open title defence.
Novak Djokovic is still working through the injury problems that forced him to miss recent tournaments in Miami and Monte Carlo and said on Friday that he will not feature at next week's Madrid Open, one of the last stops before the French Open.
Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene has defended Jasprit Bumrah after the struggling pace spearhead went a fifth Indian Premier League match without a wicket in Thursday's seven-wicket defeat by Punjab Kings.
Iranian women's football players Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh thanked the Australian government on Friday for offering a "safe haven" and said they wished to resume their sporting careers after rebuilding their lives.
Ollie Watkins still has hope of making England's World Cup squad despite being dropped for last month's friendlies against Uruguay and Japan, with the Aston Villa forward saying all he can do in the last few weeks of the season is score goals.
Dubai Police, in collaboration with the UAE Ministry of Interior, have arrested an Irish fugitive accused of involvement in an organised criminal group linked to international crimes in his home country.
UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has met with His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Fujairah, to discuss national priorities and the country’s continued development.