Ashley Cole: I owe Mourinho a good season

Ashley Cole has insisted that he "owes" Jose Mourinho his best form this season at Chelsea as he bids to prolong his career at Stamford Bridge.The Portuguese manager controversially signed Cole in 2006 in exchange for William Gallas and the left-back won a domestic cup double in his only full season under Mourinho.

Cole was injured for long spells during that campaign and has revealed he is determined to show his manager what he is capable of in the upcoming campaign.

"Having the manager back now from 2006, the manager who bought me, is important because I still feel I owe him something," Cole told the Guardian.

"I didn't play as well as I could back then, and as well as I have for Chelsea since, when he bought me.

"I owe him a lot, personally. I wouldn't say he's different now. He's always had one aim, one objective, and that's to win. I think it doesn't matter what you've achieved in the game, or what you've done in football. You've got to train well and give him 100%."

Juventus top Bayern for Champions League earnings

Juventushttp://www.topspotafrica.com/juventus earned more from the Champions League than any other club last season. The Serie A club were beaten by eventual winners Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals, but still made €65.3 million from the competition - compared to €55m collected by the German champions.

This was mostly due to the Italian side gaining much of the TV money in their own country, with Uefa explaining that "monies from the market pool were divided according to the proportional value of the national TV market each individual club represented".

Under the European governing body's system for distributing Champions League cash, the amounts given to clubs varies by country and is related to the performance of all teams representing a particular nation.

Bayern - who also won the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal in 2012-13 - earned less because fellow Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund also made the final at Wembley.

Jurgen Klopp's side took home €54.16m, thanks partly to the reward for winning four of their six group stage games, which brought in €1m per match. Milan, Real Madrid and Barcelona were the next biggest earners, gaining €51.3m, €48.4m and €45.5m respectively, even though the latter beat the Serie A side in the last-16 stage.

Manchester United, who lost to Madrid in the last 16, were the best rewarded Premier League side with €35.5m. By comparison, Chelsea made €60m from winning the competition in 2012. In total, €904.6m was handed out to 32 clubs, while in the Europa League the overall fund was €209m. Semi-finalists Fenerbahce were the biggest earners from the competition with €11.18m, while winners Chelsea made €10.7m to add to the €30.5m they made from the Champions League

Napoli agree €37m fee with Real Madrid for Higuain

Napoli have agreed a €37 million fee with Real Madrid for Gonzalo Higuain. The Serie A club have had a fresh bid for the Argentine accepted by the Spanish club and Napoli are now trying to convince the player to move to the San Paolo. Personal terms are yet to be agreed, with Higuain's insistence on retaining his image rights providing a something of a stumbling block.

Higuain has two years remaining on a Nike deal worth around €1.8m per year but Napoli would prefer to take control of his image rights and pay him a more lucrative salary. The forward earns a relatively modest €75,000-a-week at Madrid and Napoli are believed to have offered him a deal in line with the €116,000-a-week starting salary he had agreed with Arsenal.

The Gunners had agreed personal terms with Higuain but a transfer to the Emirates Stadium stalled because Madrid were holding out for a bigger offer than the €27m submitted by the Londoners. Arsene Wenger subsequently switched his attention to capturing Luis Suarez from Liverpool after learning theUruguayan was interested in a move to the Emirates.

Wenger is still believed to be monitoring Higuain’s situation but plans to bring him to Arsenal are on the backburner as the Frenchman attempts to land Suarez for £40m-plus in a deal that would smash the club transfer record.

Arsenal will not attempt to match Napoli's bid but could come back into the running for Higuain's signature if he rejects a move to the Serie A club. New manager Rafael Benitez targeted Higuain for the vacant senior centre-forward role in the team after selling Edinson Cavani for €63m to Paris Saint-Germain last week. Although Madrid have claimed Higuain is not for sale, it is understood the Spanish club are now ready to offload the forward, who has spent six years at the Santiago Bernabeu.