Cristiano Ronaldo wants Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne at Al-Nassr, Manchester Utd interested in Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso and Robert Lewandowski has option to extend Barcelona deal.

Al-Nassr and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo, 39, is urging the Saudi Arabian club to sign Belgium midfielder Kevin de Bruyne when the 33-year-old’s contract with Manchester City runs out next summer. (Mundo Deportivo – in Spanish), external

Manchester United are interested in appointing Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso to replace Erik ten Hag and are willing to wait until the summer for the former Liverpool midfielder. (Todofichajes – in Spanish), external

Aston Villa defender Pau Torres is a target for Manchester United, who are prepared to offer close to £42m for the 27-year-old Spain defender. (Fichajes – in Spanish), external

Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli want to sign Egypt forward Mohamed Salah, 32, and his 33-year-old Liverpool team-mate Virgil van Dijk when their contracts with the Reds run out at the end of the season. (Caught Offside), external

Poland striker Robert Lewandowski, 36, has an option to extend his contract at Barcelona beyond next summer if he meets certain criteria, which he is expected to achieve. (Sport – in Spanish), external

Barcelona are considering sending 21-year-old Spain forward Ansu Fati, who had a stint at Brighton last season, out on loan in January. (Sport – in Spanish), external

England striker Eddie Nketiah, 25, says he left Arsenal to join Crystal Palace in the summer for “opportunities to be on the pitch and improve”. (Independent), external

Mateo Kovacic found his scoring boots to get Manchester City back to winning ways, as boss Pep Guardiola joked it was a “copy and paste” job of Rodri.

Rodri, City’s key defensive midfielder, is basically irreplaceable. But since his season-ending ACL injury, Kovacic and Ilkay Gundogan are playing as a double pivot.

Such is City’s style of play that both ended up playing the majority of Saturday’s 3-2 win in Fulham’s half.

It ended a run of two Premier League draws since Rodri’s injury against Arsenal. Failure to win on Saturday would have meant their worst league run in 2024.

Kovacic, 30, is not a goalscoring midfielder. That has never been his job at Dinamo Zagreb, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Chelsea or Manchester City.

But you do not end up with a list of clubs like that without being a top-quality midfielder.

“He is not a top goalscorer but he maybe saw how many goals Rodri has scored in that position and did copy and paste. He scored two fantastic goals,” Guardiola told BBC Match of the Day afterwards.

Kovacic’s first was a deflected shot from a half-cleared corner and his second was a clean strike from the edge of the area early in the second half.

In his post-match news conference, Guardiola added: “They went four to five [defenders]. When they defended with five there is one man free on the edge of the box – Kovacic.

“The two goals were because in that position they can’t defend it. Kovacic was really important. Now opponents know they can’t leave him alone or he can score a goal.”

Kovacic’s double takes him up to three league goals for the season – having also netted against former club Chelsea – his best campaign already since 2014-15 for Inter Milan.

This marked only the second time he has ever scored more than once in a game – after a 2014 Europa League qualifying hat-trick for Inter against Icelandic side Stjarnan.

He celebrated a goal by sucking a thumb and told BBC Radio 5 Live: “It means a lot because my wife is pregnant so it was great to get some goals for the little one.”

Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree have both provided memorable highlights, now putting those two elements in Salt Lake City — a location that has delivered all-time UFC moments over the past couple of years.

Saturday’s UFC 307 event will be headlined by a light heavyweight championship main event between Pereira and Rountree, while Raquel Pennington puts her newly-won women’s bantamweight title on the line against past champ Julianna Pena in the co-main event.

Watch the UFC 307 cold open below, narrated by actor Ron Perlman.

Pereira looks to add to his Fighter of the Year campaign as he puts his belt on the line for the third time this year. “Poatan” delivered brutal knockouts of Jamahal Hill at UFC 300 in April, and Jiri Prochazka at June’s UFC 303 event. It will be Pereira’s fourth fight in the past 11 months.

Rountree gets his first crack at UFC gold following a stoppage win over one-time title challenger Anthony Smith earlier this year.

It was clear at the end of last season that Liverpool needed to tighten things up defensively if they were to provide a strong challenge for the title.

They finished third, nine points behind winners Manchester City and seven behind second-place Arsenal, while the Reds had the worst defensive record of the top three, conceding seven more goals than City and 12 more than the Gunners.

So far this season, however, Arsenal have let in four more goals than Liverpool while City have conceded six more.

There is, of course, a long way to go but that is already an encouraging turnaround.

On the face of it, little appears to have changed at the back for the Reds.

The defence remains a familiar and experienced one with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk and Andy Robertson all starting when fit, while Ibrahima Konate is proving Slot’s favoured option to start alongside his captain at centre-back.

That centre-back pairing is flourishing. After the first seven games of last season Liverpool had faced 101 shots on goal, compared to just 64 this season, but Slot believes they offer more than just keeping out goals.

“They have been terrific throughout the whole season to now, not only in defending but the way they start our attacks in a good way,” he said.

“So many good things with the ball and also without the ball.”

Following the impressive 3-0 win against Manchester United last month, Robertson spoke about how there felt to be more control in defence under Slot.

“We look a bit more secure defensively,” he said after the Old Trafford victory.

“We had a lot more control in our game. A clean sheet is massive. To come away to your big rivals like Manchester United and keep a clean sheet is massive.”

Ketlen Vieira has a point to prove at UFC 307.

The UFC veteran once again enters a fight looking to earn a shot at the bantamweight title with a victory, and feels it may finally come if she beats two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison this Saturday in Salt Lake City, especially with all the hype surrounding the former PFL champion.

“I think she underestimates me,” Vieira said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “When she says she’s better than me in all areas, she’s underestimating me. She’s a very good athlete, she’s a Olympic medalist for a reason, but she’s not better than me in everything because she’s completely dependent on taking the fight to the ground. We haven’t seen her trade on the feet for three rounds. Maybe she can do that in the future, but I don’t see that right now.”

Harrison said during the UFC 307 media day on Wednesday she believes she “can beat all three girls in the same night,” referring to her upcoming opponent and both UFC 307 co-headliners, Raquel Pennington and Julianna Peña.

Harrison has only fought once inside the octagon, dominating and finishing Holm with a rear-naked choke. Vieira also holds a win over Holm, as well as Miesha Tate, Cat Zingano and Sara McMann.

“I’m used to this already,” Vieira said. “People always say I’m the underdog and I’m still here, beating the best. I’ve been here many times before. When I fought McMann the winner would fight for the belt, and I won. When I fought Cat Zingano, who was the only woman to beat Amanda [Nunes in the UFC], the winner would go for the belt, and I won. I beat two other ex-champions, Miesha and Holly. I’m used to big fights. People have short memory and continue to underestimate me.”

Vieira sees the Harrison clash as a “semifinal” to determine the next contender in the 135-pound division, and expects Pennington to successfully defend her throne Saturday against Peña.

“It’s a great fight for me,” Vieira said of Harrison. “I’m more complete than Kayla, I have more tools. I have good ground game and good judo as well. You can’t learn to defend judo takedowns in judo, but that’s something I’ve done my entire life. And I’m also evolving on the feet. I’m getting more complete every day. If I have to grapple with her, I will. If I have to trade with her, I will. She can’t do the same because she completely dependent on her ground game.”