Manchester City are ready to sell defender Kyle Walker, Bournemouth want “big money” for full-back Milos Kerkez and Liverpool eye a replacement for Virgil van Dijk.

Manchester City are willing to sell captain Kyle Walker, 34, for about £15m next summer. The England full-back is a target for Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli. (Daily Star), external

Manchester City and Liverpool are showing interest in Brighton’s Argentine forward Facundo Buonanotte, 19, who is on loan at Leicester City. (Fichajes – in Spanish), external

Bournemouth will demand “big money” if they are to consider selling Hungary full-back Milos Kerkez, 20, who is interesting Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United. (Football Insider), external

Liverpool have targeted Borussia Dortmund’s Germany defender Nico Schlotterbeck, 24, as a replacement for Virgil van Dijk should the Dutchman leave the club next summer. (Caught Offside), external

Manchester United may re-sign left-back Alvaro Fernandez, 21, who only joined Benfica on a permanent deal in the summer and is being monitored by Liverpool and Real Madrid. (Teamtalk), external

Arsenal have been given encouragement should they want to land Bournemouth striker Antoine Semenyo, 24, after he said he was a Gunners fan and wants to play Champions League football. (Football 365), external

Barcelona have opened contract talks over new deals for defender Ronald Araujo, 25 – a target for Manchester United and Chelsea – and midfielder Frenkie de Jong, 27, who is also wanted by the Red Devils. (90 min), external

France midfielder Paul Pogba, 31, looks unlikely to play again for Juventus once his doping ban ends in March after a club director said the squad was complete without him. (DAZN, via ESPN), external

New England manager Thomas Tuchel will earn a £3m bonus if he can lead England to victory at the 2026 World Cup. (The Sun), external

Johnny Eblen probably didn’t have the performance he wanted but he’ll still leave Saudi Arabia as Bellator middleweight champion with a unanimous decision win over Fabian Edwards at PFL: Battle of the Giants.

A strong start with superior wrestling and grappling kept Eblen up early but Edwards managed a late comeback that nearly shifted the momentum to his favor. Unfortunately, Edwards just waited too long to get movie and Eblen had already racked up enough on the scorecards to hold onto the victory.

All three judges scored the fight 48-47 with Eblen remaining undefeated with the fourth defense of his middleweight title.

“I kind of faded a little bit,” Eblen said afterwards. “I’m pretty satisfied. I wish I could have ended it again. Fabian’s a top level guy. He’s one of the best in the world.”

Eblen wasted no time setting the pace early as he established himself in the center of the cage and continuously found a home for a stiff right hand on Edwards’ chin. While Edwards kept attempting to set up a well-timed uppercut, Eblen avoided that punch before rushing forward and looking for the takedown.

Again and again, Eblen rag dolled Edwards around the cage as the British middleweight struggled to deal with the Bellator champion’s superior wrestling and grappling. As time passed, Eblen’s ability to drag Edwards to the canvas seemed to get easier, although he wasn’t able to produce much offense with the superior position.

Still, Eblen maintained control as he kept moving Edwards around the cage and then bringing him crashing back to the ground.

When the fight did stay on the feet, Edwards finally started to connect with a few shots but he just couldn’t keep Eblen from slipping inside and pressuring him back to the cage again. Because Edwards was so wary about getting taken down again, he was typically only throwing one strike at a time and that was much easier for Eblen to avoid.

Even with Edwards in a defensive posture, Eblen still managed to find a way to consistently toss him back to the ground as time started running out on the two-time title challenger.

It wasn’t until the final frame when Edwards finally started throwing caution to the wind because he knew a finish was the only way he had a chance to win. Edwards stabbed at Eblen with a good lead jab and even threw a few slick inside elbows just trying anything to inflict some damage.

Edwards was also digging to the body with some nasty knees but he just ran out of time before he could produce a knockout to pull off the comeback win. While it certainly wasn’t the last round that Eblen wanted, he still survived the late onslaught to get the decision and retain his title.

Now 16-0 in his career, Eblen’s biggest problem moving forward might be finding worthwhile competition to keep him interested now that he already has a pair of wins over Edwards.

This is the PFL Battle of the Giants live blog for Johnny Eblen vs. Fabian Edwards 2, the middleweight title fight this Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Eblen—currently ranked No. 5 in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings—is 15-0 in his MMA career. After winning the Bellator middleweight title from Gegard Mousasi in 2022, Eblen has since defended his title twice, including a win over Edwards just 13 months ago. Most recently, Eblen eked out a win over PFL light heavyweight champion Impa Kasanganay for the PFL Champion vs. Champion title back in February.

The brother of former UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards, Fabian has not had quite the same level of success as “Rocky.” Recently though, the 31-year-old fighter has looked much improved, stringing together three wins to earn his shot at Eblen’s middleweight belt last year. In that fight, Edwards started strong but faded in the third round, but after a bounce back win in March, the Englishman hopes to finish what he started last year.

Check out live blog for Eblen vs. Edwards below.

Paul Hughes’ striking proved to be too much for A.J. McKee.

Hughes (13-1) dropped McKee (22-2) early and fended off his grappling en route to a split decision win (29-28, 28-29, 29-28). The lightweight bout was the main card opener at The Mayadeen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

In Round 1, McKee backed Hughes to a corner with a flurry. Hughes broke free and almost landed a flying knee. McKee grabbed a hold of him and worked for a takedown. Hughes broke free again and threw another big knee. It was clear what McKee’s game plan was as he attempted another takedown. Hughes reversed and wound up in top position. McKee worked for a leg lock. As he got up, Hughes landed a big knee, followed by a big overhand right which dropped McKee.

The pace slowed down in Rounds 2 and 3 as McKee pressed Hughes against the cage. Hughes broke free and threw a flurry. An accidental low blow by McKee caused a break in the action. Hughes attempted a big knee and slipped, allowing McKee to capitalize by grabbing a hold of him and keeping him down. Hughes spent the rest of the fight trying to fend off McKee’s grappling, but he outstruck him throughout and caused more damage for the win.

With the win, Hughes made it seven straight and proceeded to call out Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov.

BIG WIN FOR BIG NEWS! He CALLS OUT USMAN NURMAGOMEDOV!

[ #PFLSuperFights | #BraceForImpact | BUY NOW | https://t.co/kWyJTEGRvW | https://t.co/2BtPH3wso4 ] pic.twitter.com/eALho7knnJ

— PFL (@PFLMMA) October 19, 2024

Up-to-the-minute results of PFL: Battle of the Giants include:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL: Battle of the Giants.