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Man City agree £33.6m deal for Lens defender Khusanov

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Manchester City have agreed a 40m euros (£33.6m) deal with Lens for central defender Abdukodir Khusanov.

Sources with knowledge of the deal say there are additional bonus payments attached to the sale, with the player due to undergo a medical before the transfer is officially confirmed.

City manager Pep Guardiola has been determined to strengthen his squad after a difficult couple of months which has seen the defending Premier League champions slip to sixth in the table – and 12 points behind leaders Liverpool.

The club are also in negotiations with Brazilian side Palmeiras for teenage defender Vitor Reis, although the club’s president has been quoted as saying reports they are keen to cash in on the 18-year-old are “not correct”.

In addition, City are keen on Egypt forward Omar Marmoush following the 25-year-old’s impressive displays for Eintracht Frankfurt this season.

Khusanov will become the first Uzbekistan player to join a Premier League club once his move is completed. He will also be City’s first significant January signing since the arrival of Aymeric Laporte in 2018.

It underlines Guardiola’s determination to reverse City’s fortunes and address a chronic injury situation that has left him without a succession of defenders during the first half of the campaign.

Ruben Dias has not featured since the derby defeat by Manchester United on 15 December and has been ruled out of Saturday’s FA Cup third-round tie with League Two side Salford City.

England’s John Stones will also miss the game, while Nathan Ake has twice been ruled out for extended periods because of injury already this season.

Lens only paid 100,000 euros (£84,000) for Khusanov from Belarusian club Energetik-BGU 18 months ago.

However, he has developed rapidly and made 13 appearances in Ligue 1 so far this season and has 18 caps for Uzbekistan.

Khusanov scored his first goal for the club on his most recent appearance, a French Cup tie with Paris St-Germain on 22 December.

City have also been handed welcome news with the return to training of Oscar Bobb after the 21-year-old Norwegian’s five-month absence with a fractured leg.

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Havertz online abuse has terrible consequences – Arteta

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says the online abuse of striker Kai Havertz and his wife has “terrible consequences” and needs to be “eradicated from the game”.

Havertz was criticised for his performance in Sunday’s FA Cup defeat by Manchester United, after he missed a glorious chance to win the game in normal time and then had his penalty saved in the shootout as United won 5-3 on penalties following the 1-1 draw.

The German’s wife Sophia shared screenshots of the “shocking” abuse she received on social media amid the game, including threats to the couple’s unborn child.

Arsenal have reported the abuse to the police and are working with a specialist data firm to identify the culprits, but Arteta says more must be done as he spoke before Wednesday’s north London derby against Tottenham.

“It’s incredible, honestly,” he said. “We really have to do something about it, because accepting that and hiding this has terrible consequences.

“It’s something we have to eradicate from the game because it’s so cynical and dependent to a result of an action.

“There is no other industry like this. When we played Ipswich on December 27, we won 1-0 and Kai Havertz scored. The whole stadium after that is singing the ‘Waka, Waka’ (his chant). That was 20 days ago. Where is the perspective?

“We are all responsible. That’s a really serious matter. It affects me. It affects him and everybody that is in the industry.

“We can accept it and say ‘that’s our job’, but there are certain limits and the line has to be drawn. We put a lot of attention on technology and what is next in football.

“What is next in football is that this should be prohibited. It cannot happen. That’s it.”

Meta, who own Instagram, removed the content for violating its policies.

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I will not be the coach of a Red Bull team – Klopp

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Jurgen Klopp says he has made a “clear commitment” that he will not become manager at one of the Red Bull clubs after starting his role as the organisation’s head of global soccer.

The former Liverpool manager was named in the role last year before officially starting at the beginning of 2025.

He has not had a managerial role since leaving Anfield last summer following a highly-successful nine year spell.

Klopp’s new role sees him take more of an oversight role across a number of clubs including RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg and New York Red Bulls.

But when asked at a media conference on Tuesday whether he might be tempted back into day-to-day management if a role at one of the clubs becomes available, Klopp said emphatically said “no”.

“I will not be the coach of a Red Bull team,” he said. “That is a clear commitment. As much as you can give a guarantee, I will not be a coach at all.

“I am probably the only person in this room who will be asked where are you in five years, I don’t have a clue.

“But I will not be a replacement of one of the Red Bull coaches.

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Rising star Fonseca knocks out ninth seed Rublev

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Joao Fonseca had a Grand Slam debut to remember as he knocked out ninth seed Andrey Rublev in the first round of the Australian Open.

The 18-year-old Brazilian thrilled the crowd as he caused the biggest upset of the tournament so far with a 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 7-6 (7-5) victory against Rublev.

Fonseca was playing in his first main-draw match at a major, having come through three rounds of qualifying without dropping a set in Melbourne last week.

The victory extends his winning streak to 14 matches – but who is tennis’ latest rising star?

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