Borussia Dortmund looking to make Achraf Hakimi move permanent

There’s no doubt that Achraf Hakimi has taken advantage of his two-year loan to Borussia Dortmund, winning back-to-back CAF Young Player of the Year awards while becoming one of their star performers.

The 21-year-old has delivered 9 goals and 13 assists in 58 matches for the club, as per iSports API and was absolutely clinical in helping BVB reach the Champions League knockout round.

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With the Moroccan’s loan spell coming to an end this summer, Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc has revealed the German giants will look to retain his services for years to come.

“We will have talks with Real Madrid in the next few weeks,” Zorc told media.

“The decision is not up to us, but Achraf’s great development has, of course, not been hidden from anyone in Spain either.

“He feels very comfortable with us. They [Real Madrid] know that we would like to keep him.”

Hakimi, who came up through the Real Madrid youth system, is currently valued at €45m on Transfermarkt.

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Salomon Kalou failed to obtain work permit for Aston Villa move

Hertha Berlin striker Salomon Kalou’s move to Aston Villa during the January transfer window fell through due to work permit issues.

Kalou scored 60 goals and laid on 44 assists during 254 appearances for Chelsea, winning the Champions League and Premier League during his time at Stamford Bridge, according to iSports football API.

The 34-year old was set to make a return to the Premier League but failed to obtain a work permit due to not having played enough games for the Ivory Coast in the past two years.

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For a non-EU player to be registered as a player in England, they must have played between 30% and 70% of the international games in that period.

Kalou would have been linking up with former teammate John Terry at Villa Park.

Speaking to Berliner Kurier, he said: “England would have tempted me very much.

“I received a call from my good friend John Terry, I would have liked to play under him.

“We tried until the final hour if there was a possibility.

“But I’m not a European and don’t play for the national team anymore. That was the problem.”

He has been at his current club since 2014 according to football results API provider iSports, but has fallen out of favour with manager Jürgen Klinsmann.

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Chiellini named in Juventus' Champions League squad

Giorgio Chiellini has been named in Juventus' squad for the Champions League knockout stage as he nears a return from a knee injury.

Chiellini, 35, has made just one appearance for Juve this season and underwent surgery on his knee in September, as per iSports football API.

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The Juve captain was targeting a return this month or in March and was included in Juve's 22-man squad for the Champions League knockout stage.

Juventus will face Lyon in the last 16, with the first leg to be played in France on February 26.

They are top of Serie A by three points ahead of a trip to Hellas Verona on Saturday.

According to iSports football data, Juventus latest squad: Gianluigi Buffon, Carlo Pinsoglio, Wojciech Szczesny; Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Danilo, Matthijs de Ligt, Mattia De Sciglio, Daniele Rugani, Alex Sandro; Rodrigo Bentancur, Juan Cuadrado, Sami Khedira, Blaise Matuidi, Miralem Pjanic, Adrien Rabiot, Aaron Ramsey; Federico Bernardeschi, Douglas Costa, Paulo Dybala, Gonzalo Higuain, Cristiano Ronaldo.

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Raptors tie team record with 11th straight win

Terence Davis hasn't forgotten about being passed over for a spot in the Rising Stars Challenge at All-Star Weekend. Even so, the Toronto Raptors' rookie is just happy he's playing for a contender.

Davis came off the bench to score a career-high 31 points and the Raptors tied a team record with their 11th straight win, beating the Chicago Bulls 129-102.

Toronto also won 11 straight in January 2016 and again Feb. 26-March 16, 2018, as per iSports NBA API.

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Pascal Siakam added 17 points, Serge Ibaka had 16, Chris Boucher 15 and Kyle Lowry 14 for the reigning NBA champions. The Raptors outscored the Bulls 69-39 in the second half to win their 12th consecutive meeting with Chicago.

Davis made a career-high 12 of his 15 field goal attempts, including 6 of 7 attempts from 3-point range.

Davis is the sixth rookie in Raptors history to score at least 30 in a game and the first to do it as a reserve.

An undrafted rookie from the University of Mississippi, Davis had scored 23 points twice this season, most recently against Washington on Jan. 17. He surpassed that mark with a 13-point fourth quarter and received a hug from Lowry when he checked out with 3:12 remaining.

Thaddeus Young fouled out with 21 points, and Zach LaVine had 18 as Toronto swept Chicago for the third straight season, according to iSports reliable basketball API.

Chandler Hutchison scored 17 points, and Ryan Arcidiacono and Coby Whiteeach had 12 for the Bulls, who are 8-18 on the road.

The Raptors were without guard Norman Powell, who broke the ring finger on his left hand in Friday's win at Detroit. Center March Gasol missed his third straight game because of a sore left hamstring. Both players are out indefinitely.

Bulls guard Kris Dunn missed his first game of the season, with Hutchison starting in his place. Coach Jim Boylen said Dunn has been diagnosed with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee.

Dunn was injured on the first possession of Friday's loss at Brooklyn. He flew back to Chicago on Saturday to be evaluated by team doctors.

Bulls forward Daniel Gafford didn't return after suffering an apparent injury on an awkward fall in the first quarter, but Boylen said afterward that Gafford was OK. Gafford had missed the previous nine games because of a dislocated right thumb.

Chicago led 63-60 at halftime, but Toronto reclaimed the lead with a 17-4 run over the first five minutes of the third.

Siakam scored nine points in the third, and Ibaka had eight as the Raptors took a 95-85 lead to the fourth.

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LA Galaxy sign former Man United man to replace Zlatan Ibrahimović

Los Angeles Galaxy have found their replacement for Zlatan Ibrahimović.
And it comes in the form of a man with his own impressive pedigree in European football.

The Major League Soccer outfit have completed the signing of Javier Hernández, aka Chicharito, from Sevilla.

The 31-year-old has racked up over 110 goals across the past decade in European football, including spells at Manchester United, Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen and West Ham, according to iSports football API.

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At Sevilla, he found it hard to break into Julen Lopetegui’s plans and has exited after just six months in Andalusia.

Reports in Spain claim that the Galaxy have paid a fee of €8.5m for the Mexico international’s services.

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Pelicans set table for Zion Williamson with franchise-best 21 3-pointers

The New Orleans Pelicans sure gave Zion Williamsonsomething to look forward to.

Two days before Williamson is expected to make his regular-season NBA debut, the Pelicans hit a franchise-record 21 3-pointers on their way to a 126-116 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.

New Orleans started the season 6-22 and at one point lost a franchise-record 13 games in a row. But roughly a month ago, just as the losing streak hit a baker's dozen, the Pelicans made some schematic changes defensively and things took off.

The Pelicans have won 11 of their past 16 games and have ended the NBA's longest active winning streak twice in their past three games: Memphis' seven-game streak on Wednesday and Utah's 10-game streak on Jan. 16, as per iSports basketball API.

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So are the Pelicans playing their best basketball of the season?

"For sure," guard Lonzo Ball said. "I mean, it's a lot better than the 13 skid we had, so moving in the right direction."

Thanks to the bottom of the Western Conference, New Orleans is just 3.5 games back of the eighth spot where the Grizzlies currently sit.

Part of the Pelicans' resurgence has come because the team has simply gotten healthier. Derrick Favors returned from a monthlong absence on Dec. 13 and immediately improved the team's defense. When Favors plays at least 24 minutes this season, New Orleans is 9-5.

Favors' presence as a screener on the offensive end has helped the Pelicans as well, but according to coach Alvin Gentry, the biggest boost has been a healthy Ball.

Ball missed some time early in the season with an adductor strain, and even though he missed only six games with the injury, it took him a while to get his footing back.

Since a five-steal performance against the Warriors on Dec. 23, Ball has averaged 15.4 points, 7.5 assists, 7.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 38.6% from 3-point range, according to iSports NBA data.

"I think the pace of the game is great and Lonzo has done a great job with that," Gentry said. "I think we are finding the right people at the right time and I think our defense has been really solid."

The Pelicans got a big boost on Monday when Jrue Holiday returned to the lineup after missing seven games with a left triceps strain. Holiday came back and looked the best he has all season in tying a season high with 36 points while setting a new career mark with seven 3-pointers.

His defense also helped the Pelicans slow down Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant, who was just 1-of-5 when Holiday was the primary defender. Morant had three points through three quarters but finished with 16 on 5-of-14 shooting, recorded by iSports basketball data.

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"I thought (Jrue) got us off to a great start," Gentry said. "More so than anything, his defense on Ja was great. Ja is having a hell of a year, so for Jrue to come back and play against him and lock in on him like that ... the kid is relentless, I'll tell you he just keeps coming at you. He's going to be a terrific player in this league for a long time. I thought Jrue did an outstanding job on him."

Holiday, who had been working out with Williamson playing three-on-three and four-on-four pregame while he was out injured, had been itching to get back on the floor.

"You see how well the team has been doing, and how they have been fighting and beating good teams and playing very well." Holiday said. "I just wanted to get back out there with them. The performance I had was just juice and I guess I just had the hot hand."

The constant for the Pelicans this season has been the play of Brandon Ingram, who is averaging a team-high 25.6 points per game. In fact, Ingram is averaging career highs in rebounds (6.7), assists (4.4), 3-point percentage (39.9%) and free throw percentage (85.8%), as per iSports API basketball data.

Ingram had a career-high 49 points against the Jazz and has blossomed into the team's No. 1 option.

"He's worked extremely hard to improve his 3-point shooting," Gentry said. "He's done it with his free throw shooting. He's in there every day putting in the work. To me, I'm sure I'm a little bit biased, but I'd be really disappointed if he didn't make the All-Star team."

Ingram said he's looking forward to getting on the court with Williamson, who again watched intently from the sidelines in a hooded sweatshirt and a sports coat. Ingram predicts there won't be many seats left once people get a look at the No. 1 overall pick.

"It's going to be sold out," Ingram said. "Every single night. When they start to see Zion playing, it's going to be sold out."

The Pelicans' plan is to start Williamson against the Spurs on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN) while monitoring his minutes. Last week, Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin said the team won't have a "hard minutes restriction" on Williamson but will play him in short "bursts" in order to keep him fresh.

But Gentry knows that Wednesday will be a little different from your average regular-season NBA contest.

"One, it's going to be a circus and everyone knows that," Gentry said. "What we have to do is focus on the task at hand and that is playing a really good San Antonio team ... It is going to be good to get him out there. I think the big thing for us is we just need to get him out there so all of this goes away and then we can start to figure out rotations and how we are going to play and things we are going to do.

"We have gone back already and looked at a bunch of stuff from preseason so we will just try to integrate him right into what we're doing."

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Jazz, Royce O'Neale agree on 4-year, $36M contract extension

Utah Jazz forward Royce O'Neale has agreed to a four-year, $36 million contract extension, agents Ty Sullivan and Steven Heumann of CAA Sports confirmed.

O'Neale, 26, has proved to be an essential element to the Jazz's elite NBA defense and elevation into the fourth seed in the Western Conference. In his third NBA season, O'Neale has become a full-time starter for the Jazz and is averaging career highs in minutes (30), points (6.2), rebounds (5.0) and assists (2.5)， according to iSports basketball livescore API.

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The Jazz announced the extension Sunday, but did not provide any contract details.

"Re-signing Royce to a long-term extension was a priority for our organization," Jazz executive vice president of basketball operations Dennis Lindsey said in a statement Sunday. "Royce is an elite defender and has really shown the ability to spread the floor with his shooting. We feel he brings a versatility to our team that's vital to our success. We're happy that we were able to retain not only a great player in Royce, but also a tremendous person."

Although he could've become a restricted free agent this summer, O'Neale and his reps at CAA Sports -- including Sullivan, Heumann and Richard Beda -- negotiated a long-term deal that keeps him with the franchise that signed him out of Europe in 2017.

"I'm staying here for a while," O'Neale said Sunday in a statement. He's become a quintessential 3-and-D specialist, guarding elite opposing players and shooting 44.3 percent on three-pointers this season, recorded by iSports basketball data.

O'Neale is one more Utah organizational success story of evaluation and player development. After going undrafted out of Baylor, O'Neale played two seasons overseas before signing with the Jazz.

"Just the journey of how far I've come," O'Neale said. "I've come a long way."

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