Juventus have ruled out a move for Manchester United's Anthony Martial after being boggled by the cost of a deal to bring in the Frenchman.

Club chief executive Maurizio Arrivabene said the expense that would be involved in recruiting the forward meant it was a non-starter.

Martial was absent from United's squad for Saturday's 2-2 Premier League draw with Aston Villa, which interim manager Ralf Rangnick explained was down to the player not wanting to be included.

However, the 26-year-old denied that was the case, and he and Rangnick appear to have resolved their issues.

Ex-Monaco man Martial has scored 79 goals since his United debut in September 2015 – only Marcus Rashford (91) has scored more for the club in that period.

But he has played just 358 minutes in the first team this season, scoring only once, and a January exit may make sense for all parties. Martial is contracted to United until 2024.

Juventus have been linked with him, but Arrivabene told Sport Mediaset: "Absolutely not at those figures. We don't wait for them to come down, we don't wait at all. We don't talk about it."

Of more pressing concern may be the soon-to-expire contract of star Argentine forward Paulo Dybala, but Juventus appear relaxed about that matter, happy to wait until next month to address it.

"I said we would talk about it in February," Arrivabene said. "There is not only Dybala, but also [Juan] Cuadrado, [Mattia] Perin, [Federico] Bernardeschi who is a European champion and [Mattia] De Sciglio."

Juventus are confident such players will not be chasing pre-contract deals with other clubs in the meantime.

"We have excellent relations with the players," Arrivabene said. "They are very close to Juve. We talked and made an appointment for February. We will calmly do what we have to do."

Ralf Rangnick has urged Jadon Sancho to start replicating his training performance on the pitch for Manchester United after a hugely disappointing start to life at Old Trafford.

United spent a reported £72million on Sancho in pre-season, his move from Borussia Dortmund being long in the making after the club spent well over a year courting him.

Having left Manchester City as a teenager, Sancho blossomed into one of Europe's most promising young players in the Bundesliga – his haul of 51 non-penalty goal involvements over 2019-20 and 2020-21 was bettered by just five players across the top five European leagues.

Of those 51, 27 were assists, with Thomas Muller (39), Kevin De Bruyne (32) and Lionel Messi (27) the only three to boast a higher tally.

While some critics have argued Sancho's 16.0 expected assists (xA) in that time shows that his form was unsustainable, that was still an extremely high figure as he ranked 11th among the same group of players.

He has found life a little harder at United, though, registering just two goals as his only goal involvements. He ranks fifth in the squad for xA (2.0) and sixth for non-penalty xG (2.2) across all competitions, and this is not even a team that is thriving.

The England international came in for criticism after a particularly anonymous substitute appearance in the 2-2 draw with Aston Villa, though it would seem the Sancho playing in matches is almost unrecognisable to the one Rangnick sees in training.

"Whenever I see him train, he's showing that he's one of the best players in the training sessions," Rangnick said.

"But now it's about transferring that to when he's playing, and showing the same kind of level and performance on the pitch.

"I said that to him, by the way, the day before yesterday: 'Confirm the performances you show in training when you're playing on the pitch.'

"For me, it's not at all a question of his position. It's clear that in a 4-3-3 he's a player for either of the two wing positions, either left or right. He can play both.

"I think he would prefer a little bit the left side, because he can then switch inside and have a go on goal or shoot on goal with his strong foot.

"But for me, there's no question, no doubt about his position. He's a winger. He's somebody who can dribble fast with ball, and for me it's not at all a question of which is the best possible position for him."

Pressed for a potential explanation for Sancho's struggles, Rangnick was hardly definitive, but he did offer a few theories, namely greater demands physically and psychologically.

"It's difficult to say. I think it's a different league, it's a different competition. It's more physical," Rangnick continued.

"Now he's playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world. I think it's also got to do with a lot of different things up here in his head. It's a difference if you come as an 18-year-old, unknown, a talented English boy to Borussia Dortmund.

"From then on, you can only improve; you can only make a success out of that. The level of expectation was a lot lower compared to the situation when, at the age of 21, you come to a club like Manchester United for a high transfer fee, with a high level of expectation.

"Everybody expected from him that he would be one of the best players in the team. Again, this is psychologically, emotionally a more challenging situation than the one he had at Borussia Dortmund, and these are exactly the kind of steps that he has to make to become a top player for the next 10 years for this club."

Rangnick is optimistic Sancho will rediscover his confidence with a few more decisive actions in the final third, though he did warn the 21-year-old that only he can take those steps, there is only so much those helping him can do.

"With those kinds of players, creative, offensive players, it's all about confidence. It's all about having that confidence, being aware how good they can be and then showing it in front of 75,000, or 45,000 at Villa Park.

"Of course, in the end he has to do that. He has [to make] that step again. As I said, in most training sessions he's training on a very high level. Now it's about having the transfer onto the pitch in the Premier League, in the FA Cup and in the Champions League.

"He can do that; he has the ability to do that. There is no doubt about that, but now we have to develop him into that kind of player, showing the same kind of performances that he showed at Borussia Dortmund.

"We can give him the guidelines, we can give him helping hands and show him that we are trying to accompany him on this way, and give all the necessary assistance that he needs, but in the end it's up to him to take those next steps."

Khris Middleton wants the Milwaukee Bucks to "own it and learn from it" after another painful defeat again highlighted their struggles without Jrue Holiday.

Going down 121-114 to the Atlanta Hawks on Monday meant the Bucks have lost four of their last five games.

Middleton's 34 points, and 27 points from Giannis Antetokounmpo, could not propel Milwaukee to victory as they conceded 38 points in the fourth quarter.

The team's ball handling in Holiday's six-game absence has often not been clever, and the sooner the starting point guard returns, the better for the Bucks.

The Bucks have a 4-9 record when Holiday has been absent from the team this season, and his latest absence has been them slide to 27-19 for fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

Sidelined by ankle soreness and COVID-19 protocols, Holiday also missed the win over the Brooklyn Nets that preceded the slide. Before that, he was showing exemplary form, averaging 23.9 points and 7.9 assists in his most recent 10 games, way above his season averages which now stand at 18.4 points and 6.7 assists.

"I've been playing with Giannis for years, so I know his spots where he wants the ball, how to get it to him, but Jrue adds another layer of that, where he's able to attack and get other guys going, including Giannis," Middleton said.

"I don't think it's on me to get Giannis going. I feel like Giannis gets himself going for the most part. Every now and then, I feel like I'm able to get him an easy one, but same thing with Jrue.

"We're just missing an extra playmaker, extra scorer, extra defender, an extra player out there."

Antetokounmpo had eight-of-20 shooting from the field in Monday's setback, and managed just six rebounds. Only once this season has he had fewer rebounds.

The Greek superstar leads the team with averages of 28.5 points, 11.2 rebounds and a field-goal percentage of 53.5 per cent, but there are nights when he cannot make a match-winning difference.

Middleton said the Hawks game "was a tough one to drop", and now the Bucks must regroup for a tussle with the 31-15 Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday.

"We need to find a way to be smarter, be better," Middleton said. "Just gotta own it, learn from it, try to be better."

Coach Mike Budenholzer struck a similar tone, saying the reigning NBA champions have "a lot of areas where we need to be significantly better", adding: "We need more from everybody."

Samuel Umtiti is expected to be out of action for around three months after undergoing surgery on a fractured metatarsal, Barcelona have announced. 

France international Umtiti had a procedure on his right foot on Tuesday and will be consigned to the sidelines until April at the earliest. 

A club statement read: "Samuel Umtiti has undergone successful surgery on the fifth metatarsal of his right foot. 

"Tuesday's operation was performed by Dr Antoni Dalmau under supervision of the FC Barcelona Medical Services. He is expected to be out of action for around three months. 

"The French centre-back suffered the fracture in training on Monday." 

Umtiti this month signed a new contract that tied him to Camp Nou until 2026, despite having been heavily linked with an exit.  

The World Cup-winning defender's three-year extension included a temporary pay decrease that allowed new signing Ferran Torres to be registered. 

Umtiti has long been a peripheral figure at Barcelona, featuring in just 17 games in all competitions since the start of last season.

Juventus assistant manager Marco Landucci applauded his players' attitude and believes they are building consistency following their Coppa Italia victory over Sampdoria.

The Bianconeri made a strong start to their title defence with a commanding 4-1 win over the Blucerchiata at the Allianz Stadium.

Goals from Juan Cuadrado and Daniele Rugani put the hosts in control and despite Andrea Conti's reply for the visitors, further strikes from Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata sealed the passage into the quarter-finals.

Landucci oversaw Juve's fortunes in the absence of Massimiliano Allegri, who is serving a touchline ban in the Coppa Italia held over from his first stint in charge of the club.

And the assistant hailed the efforts of his squad, who are now unbeaten after 90 minutes in their last 11 across all competitions.

"We put in a good performance, which wasn’t easy with so few people in the stadium," he told Sport Mediaset.

"We had the right attitude, were fired up, and it was very important that we go through to the next round, as the Coppa Italia is a great tournament. Everyone did very well.

"The attitude is crucial, and we had many games with the right attitude, even missing key players. There are no easy games; we saw that [when] we lost more points against the so-called smaller sides like Verona, Empoli and Udinese.

"The only thing that matters is hard work, attitude and desire. We are finding some consistency now; we need to speak with actions rather than words."

Time off is the only antidote to Chelsea's ongoing malaise, according to Thomas Tuchel. 

The Blues were held to a 1-1 draw at Brighton and Hove Albion on Tuesday, extending their winless streak in the Premier League to four matches – their worst such run under Tuchel. 

Chelsea have won just one of their past seven top-flight matches and sit 12 points adrift of leaders Manchester City, who have a game in hand. 

The meeting with Brighton was Chelsea's 15th game in all competitions since the start of December and Tuchel believes the only way they can get back on track for a prolonged period is through rest. 

"We look tired. And we are. It's like this," Tuchel told BT Sport after Adam Webster's header cancelled out Hakim Ziyech's opener. 

"We knew they were well prepared, they had more time to prepare and you saw at the end the stadium celebrates like a victory. That's what you face. 

"We need our full strength to overcome these obstacles. In these moments there's no blame for the team. We tried everything. We are mentally and physically tired. We need some days off, there's no other solution. 

"We have two days off then we have two days to prepare the match against Tottenham. There's no other solution." 

Tuchel was critical of Ziyech after the 1-0 loss to City at the weekend and the former Ajax winger did not celebrate his first-half goal. He was also regularly engaged in heated conversations with Romelu Lukaku. 

The Chelsea boss was unbothered by either of those aspects, though.

"I am happy. [Ziyech] can score 20 more and not celebrate, I have no problem," said Tuchel. 

"It's normal that they talk. It's normal they're not happy and they don't like it if we say we want more from them. In the reaction to the goal, you can see we are tired because we are saving energy even there." 

Brighton boss Graham Potter said: "We're really pleased and proud of the performance, definitely. We gave Chelsea a good game. Our performance was full of everything. 

"It's not easy because they have some top players but the courage of our defenders... The boys played on the front foot as much as they could. They scored from not much, but it was a performance I really enjoyed. 

"We were well in the game and the boys could feel it was a good performance. Chelsea don't give much away, so you have to work for everything. We could maybe test the goalkeeper more, but I thought we had everything." 

The Seattle Seahawks have fired defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr.

Norton's exit comes following the Seahawks' first losing season since 2011, one in which the defense was particularly culpable.

Seattle allowed 379.1 yards per game in 2021, the fifth-most in the NFL.

Significant changes were expected after the Seahawks finished with a 7-10 record, but it is Norton who has been relieved of his duties rather than head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider.

Defensive passing game coordinator Andre Curtis has also been let go.

Only the Baltimore Ravens (278.9) gave up more passing yards per game than the Seahawks (265.5).

Erling Haaland's penalty was not enough to rescue Borussia Dortmund as they crashed out of the DFB-Pokal following a shock 2-1 defeat by St Pauli.

The reigning champions' title defence came to an abrupt end at Millerntor-Stadion, where the 2. Bundesliga leaders claimed a memorable victory.

Dortmund arrived in the tie having netted five goals without reply in their opening two matches of this season's DFB-Pokal, defeating Wehen Wiesbaden 3-0 and Ingolstadt 2-0.

Meanwhile, only Bayern Munich, Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg had beaten them in this competition since 2011.

However, they fell behind to Etienne Amenyido's fourth-minute strike, while an Axel Witsel own goal doubled the hosts' lead before the break.

Haaland halved the deficit from the penalty spot 13 minutes into the second half but ,despite eight shots on goal and 70.4 per cent of the possession, the visitors were unable to avert a shock exit.

Juventus launched their Coppa Italia title defence with a commanding 4-1 victory over Sampdoria at the Allianz Stadium.

A free-kick from Juan Cuadrado gave the reigning champions a 25th-minute lead, while Daniele Rugani's first Bianconeri goal in almost three years doubled the advantage after the break.

Andrea Conti replied for Sampdoria, whose fortunes were overseen by Felice Tufano following the sacking of coach Roberto D’Aversa on Monday.

But substitute Paulo Dybala put the hosts back in control, before Alvaro Morata's penalty sealed their place in the quarter-finals.

Juventus had won eight of their nine previous Coppa Italia meetings with Sampdoria, while they had not been eliminated from this stage of the competition since 2005.

The Bianconeri made a strong start as Cuadrado tested Wladimiro Falcone with a fierce drive, but soon after there was no denying the Colombian, who drilled a low free-kick into the far corner.

Juve thought they had doubled their lead when Morata swept home within 60 seconds of the restart. But the Spain international was denied by VAR after Adrien Rabiot was adjudged to have fouled Tomas Rincon in the build-up.

The second goal arrived seven minutes after the interval; Rugani, who last found the net for Juventus in February 2019, climbed to nod home Arthur’s inviting cross.

Despite a turbulent build-up that included the departure of D’Aversa, Sampdoria responded in the 63rd minute. Unmarked at the far post, Conti was allowed too much time to control before drilling past Mattia Perin.

However, their hard work was undone almost immediately as they were robbed of possession outside the penalty box, with Dybala gratefully sweeping home.

Morata then put the icing on the cake from the penalty spot after Marley was brought down by Tommaso Augello.

Chelsea's worst winless Premier League run under Thomas Tuchel was extended to four games as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Brighton and Hove Albion on Tuesday. 

Tuchel's side missed a chance to quickly close the gap to leaders Manchester City, who beat the European champions 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday to go 13 points clear. 

Hakim Ziyech put the Blues ahead in the first half at the Amex Stadium, but Brighton restored parity through an unmarked Adam Webster in the 60th minute. 

Chelsea were unable to bring an end to their worst top-flight run under Tuchel by finding a winner, with Brighton earning an impressive point. 

Brighton started positively and pressed Chelsea well, but Danny Welbeck spurned their best opportunity when he failed to connect with the ball in the six-yard box. 

However, Chelsea took the lead in the 28th minute when a speculative Ziyech effort got the better of Robert Sanchez and found the bottom-right corner.

The Seagulls made a strong start to the second period and drew level on the hour mark when Webster powered a header home from Alexis Mac Allister's corner. 

Romelu Lukaku made a brilliant dart in behind to latch onto Antonio Rudiger's lofted throughball but was thwarted by the onrushing Sanchez, with the Blues having to settle for a draw.

What does it mean? Still concern for Tuchel 

After a run of three wins in nine games in all competitions across December and January, Chelsea looked to have got back on track by beating Tottenham in the EFL Cup semi-finals and thrashing Chesterfield in the FA Cup. 

However, on the south coast they were unable to bounce back from the disappointment of defeat at City, which effectively brought an end to any faint title hopes they may have had. 

Lacklustre Lukaku 

Tuchel has been frustrated by the performances of Chelsea's attackers this season and Lukaku did little to appease him here. Although he supplied two key passes, he had just eight touches in the first half and only managed one shot on target in the whole game. 

Webster unwatched 

Webster was allowed to steam in completely unmarked from the back post and send a bullet header past Kepa Arrizabalaga for the equaliser. Tuchel's men showed a lack of awareness when defending the set-piece. 

What's next? 

Chelsea will welcome their former coach Antonio Conte back to Stamford Bridge when they face Tottenham on Sunday, when Brighton travel to Leicester City. 

Diego Simeone has opened up about conversations with Luis Suarez as Atletico Madrid attempt to get the former Barcelona striker back to form.

The Uruguay international is Atletico's top scorer in all competitions this season, albeit with just nine goals from 27 appearances.

The 34-year-old, whose contract at Wanda Metropolitano expires at the end of the campaign, has only found the net once in his last 11 club matches.

Suarez's frustration was evident when he was substituted during last month's defeat at Sevilla, with the former Liverpool striker appearing to direct expletives towards coach Simeone.

With the striker's sharp shooting deserting him and his future uncertain, the Atleti boss said there have been discussions between the pair in recent times.

Ahead of Atletico's Copa del Rey clash with Real Sociedad on Wednesday, Simeone said: "We have spoken with Luis for two months about what I think of him, of how important he is for us.

"What I think of him, he knows it and I didn't speak to him after Sevilla, I have spoken to him for two months."

Suarez has scored 30 goals across all competitions since his September 2020 transfer from Barcelona – more than any other Atletico team-mate. Karim Benzema (54) and Gerard Moreno (41) are the only players currently based in Spain to have scored more often during that time.

Additionally, only Messi (231) betters Suarez's tally of 175 LaLiga goals since the Uruguayan joined Barcelona from Liverpool in July 2014.