
Barcelona has ruled out signing Julian Alvarez from Atletico Madrid in January, Liverpool will not sell Florian Wirtz to Bayern Munich, and Chelsea are targeting Bournemouth's Alex Scott and Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton as midfield options, while Aston Villa seeks to extend Emi Buendia's contract and Luke Shaw may leave Manchester United next summer.
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The January transfer window is a period when clubs can buy and sell players, with many teams looking to strengthen their squads mid-season.
Barcelona have ruled out signing Argentina forward Julian Alvarez from Atletico Madrid in January, with the 24-year-old waiting to see whether Paris St-Germain or Arsenal make a bid for him, or whether he should stay put. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external
Liverpool will not countenance selling Germany midfielder Florian Wirtz, 23, to Bayern Munich in the January transfer window, while the German giants would only consider making a move next summer if France winger Michael Olise, 24, turns down a new deal. (Bild), external
Bournemouth's Alex Scott, 23, and Crystal Palace and England's Adam Wharton, 22, are Chelsea's primary midfield targets, with the West London club no longer interested in Monaco and Senegal's Lamine Camara, 22. (CaughtOffside, external)
Aston Villa are keen to tie Argentina midfielder Emi Buendia, 29, to a new contract as a reward for his outstanding form (Mail), external
England left-back Luke Shaw, 31, could leave Manchester United when his present deal expires with the club next summer. (Teamtalk), external
After the left's clear election victory in Berlin and the rejection of the Olympic application by the new mayor Elif Eralp, the city is withdrawing its application for the 2036, 2040 or 2044 Olympic Games. Munich and Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr remain as applicants, while Berlin looks back on a third failed Olympic project.
The 2026 AFL Grand Final will be held on Saturday, September 26 at 2:30pm AEST at the MCG, featuring the Brisbane Lions seeking a historic second threepeat and the Fremantle Dockers aiming for their first premiership since joining the league in 1995. The match will be broadcast exclusively on Channel 7 and 7Plus, with Kylie Minogue set to perform pre-game at approximately 1:30pm. Team lineups remain pending, pending the outcome of Lachie Neale’s tribunal appeal, while Simon Black and Shaun McManus are set to present the premiership cup to the winning team.

North Korea and Japan will face off in the men's soccer quarterfinals of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, and attention is being paid to whether the rough behavior of North Korean players, shoving referees, and threats to medical staff that occurred at the Hangzhou Asian Games three years ago will be repeated. North Korea narrowly advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Iran 4-1 in the group stage, raising concerns that political tensions and anti-Japanese sentiment between the two countries could affect the atmosphere of the game.
Italy lost in the quarter-finals of EuroVolley 2026 against Finland 3-2 after a two and a half hour marathon at the PalaVela in Turin, in front of over eight thousand spectators and takings close to half a million euros. De Giorgi's team wins the first two sets but suffers the Finnish comeback, with Marttila and Jokela decisive. Also present in the stands were former and current Juventus figures such as Conte, Chiellini and Cambiaso.

New York Knicks star center Karl-Anthony Towns' contract extension negotiations with the team have reached an impasse. Although the team ended its 53-year championship drought last season, Towns has an annual salary of US$57 million for the new season and has player options. There is no substantial progress in the contract extension negotiations, and training camp is approaching and there is still no agreement.

The Nagoya Asian Games soft tennis tournament was held at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center. The venue was packed with people. Taiwanese player Chen Boyi received warm cheers in the men's singles semi-finals and said he enjoyed the atmosphere of the competition. The Taiwanese team won the gold medal in the mixed doubles, the first gold medal of this Asian Games. The men's and women's teams each won a silver medal and the men's singles bronze medal. The total number of medals ranked second in the event, and a total of 40 medals have been won since 1994.