MANCHESTER, England -- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has backed Alexis Sanchez to play a key role at Manchester United this season despite continued speculation he could still leave Old Trafford.

The Chile international has been linked with a move to Italy before the European transfer deadline on Sept. 2 but Solskjaer has suggested he is ready to hand the 30-year-old a central role in his squad following the departure of Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan.

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"Alexis is such a pro and he comes in working every single day really hard and wants to be a part of this," Solskjaer told a news conference on Friday. "It's these stories he's been put in the reserves -- of course he hasn't.

"He's had three weeks [training] now, he's a few weeks behind the rest but is close to being ready."

The trip to Wolves on Monday may come too soon for Sanchez, who returned late to training after picking up a hamstring injury playing for Chile at this summer's Copa America.

Lukaku's exit has left Solskjaer short of attacking options but the Norwegian has backed the former Arsenal man -- who hasn't scored a goal for United since January -- to come good.

"We don't have the biggest forward line in terms of numbers so Alexis might end up playing a lot more games than you expect," Solskjaer said. "We expect him to come good at this club. He's quality.

"We've had a behind-closed-doors game, he's training and he's done a little bit of extras.

"He'll be gradually integrated into more playing time, but we'll have more behind closed doors games and one game a week it's hard to keep players ticking."

The Premier League is back and this weekend has plenty of talking points. Nick Miller runs us through some of the biggest storylines.

Eriksen indispensable for Spurs

In the end a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa last Saturday was perfectly satisfactory for Tottenham, on the face of things: three points, their big new signing Tanguy Ndombele excelled and Harry Kane notched up a pair of goals. Job well done, congratulations lads.

But there were things to concern Spurs fans, most specifically the curious omission of the apparently un-injured Jan Vertonghen from not just the starting XI but the match day squad, and the absence of Christian Eriksen. For the 64 minutes that the Dane remained on the bench against Villa, Spurs looked ponderous, occasionally devoid of ideas about how to unlock a stout defence, even leaden. As soon as he came on, that all changed and they scored three goals.

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In the short-term the situation is rectified easily enough -- he will surely start in this weekend's big game against Manchester City -- but looking further down the line it might be concerning that Spurs are seemingly so reliant for creativity on a player who, unless something significant changes in the coming months, won't be around this time next year.

Of course, Giovani Lo Celso could turn out to be brilliant and Ndombele could pick up some of the slack and Dele Alli isn't fit yet and so on and so forth, but it's a little uncomfortable for Spurs that they apparently need Eriksen so much.

Who will play for Manchester City?

Pep Guardiola has a slightly different problem to Mauricio Pochettino. After their frankly fairly tedious, routine evisceration of West Ham last weekend, Guardiola essentially admitted that he had picked Riyad Mahrez and Gabriel Jesus for that game to ensure that Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero don't get complacent. It was almost a pleasing bonus that both men played superbly, Mahrez in particular instrumental in most good things City did.

So the question for Guardiola is: who will he select for a rather stiffer task than the Hammers on a Saturday lunchtime? Will he go for the tried and trusted Aguero and Silva, or the hungrier duo of Mahrez and Jesus? To a point, it doesn't really matter that much, as City's options are now of such high quality that it barely makes any difference who the individual bricks in the wall are, it only matters that they perform. And, going on the basis of last weekend (not forgetting Kevin De Bruyne, looking back to his best after last year's injury issues), everyone is performing to an incredibly high standard.

Whoever Guardiola picks: good luck, Tottenham.

Adrian's remarkable story enters the prosaic period

It was barely a couple of weeks ago that Adrian didn't have a club, released after spending a season on West Ham's bench. He was training with Union Deportiva Pilas, a team from the outskirts of his hometown Seville, who play in the Spanish sixth tier. Then Simon Mignolet went to Club Brugge, Liverpool needed a goalkeeper quickly, Alisson did something nasty to his calf and suddenly Adrian is saving the winning penalty in the European Super Cup.

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These are the odd, hazy days in a story like this, where strange things are possible, but soon enough Adrian will be deep in the weeds, and he'll have to deal with the more prosaic business of keeping goal for Liverpool over the next few weeks. He'll be doing that at Southampton this weekend, where his new team were given an awful fright last season as they chased the title, and when the slightly surreal afterglow of Istanbul fades, it will be interesting to see how Adrian fits in with Liverpool's defence for a longer period of time.

Chelsea must turn good performances into a result

The broad consensus has been that Frank Lampard's Chelsea have played well in both of their games so far this season, even if they won neither and lost the first handsomely. Little bits of luck in both the Premier League opener against Manchester United and the Super Cup loss against Liverpool would have made the difference to both results, and Lampard would be striding into this weekend's game against Leicester with a big smile on his face.

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He probably doesn't need to worry too much. Chelsea have arguably performed above expectations so far, which seems odd given they lost one game 4-0 and threw away a lead in the other before going down on penalties, but given the broader circumstances, with an already inexperienced squad impacted by injuries, Lampard will probably be quite pleased.

However, being pleased is all very well, but they do need to turn that into something tangible. If they don't beat Leicester it probably won't mean much in the general context of the season, but a win would serve as some sort of affirmation that they are doing something right, and thus give them something off which to propel into the rest of the season.

Will the promoted trio continue to be positive?

It's a similar story with the three promoted clubs, after appearing in their first games back in the big boys' league. Sheffield United grabbed a good point at Bournemouth, Aston Villa had Tottenham sweating and while Norwich's defence was weak against Liverpool, the way they attacked at Anfield was at least encouraging for the season ahead.

Which is great, and congratulations to them all, but now all three have games at home against teams that should not, to say the least, put the fear of God into them. Sheffield United have Crystal Palace, Villa host Bournemouth and Norwich welcome Newcastle.

If there was one theme that ran through the three newbies' opening day performances then it was positivity: to different extents, all three played their own games with conviction, and weren't cowed by the prospect of facing established top flight teams. That will hopefully give them confidence that their approaches can work in the Premier League, and that they will continue in this vein.

India are gearing up to announce their next head coach. The BCCI is conducting meetings with six candidates, including the incumbent Ravi Shastri, and is expecting to make a final call on Friday evening.

Three of the candidates were scheduled to make their presentations to the Cricket Advisory Committee led by Kapil Dev in person: Mike Hesson, the former New Zealand coach who took the team to the 2015 final, Robin Singh, part of four-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians and Lalchand Rajput, manager when India won the inaugural World T20 in 2007.

Shastri, who has been coaching India since the end of the 2017 Champions Trophy, Tom Moody, formerly with Sri Lanka and Sunrisers Hyderabad and Phil Simmons, who helped West Indies win the World T20 in 2016, would be joining in via teleconference.

The contracts of Shastri and his support staff were meant to expire at the end of the 2019 World Cup but they were given a 45-day extension keeping in mind the West Indies tour. Ahead of his departure, India captain Virat Kohli made a clear and public announcement that he would prefer if Shastri was to continue as head coach.

More to follow

Andy Murray says Nick Kyrgios' behaviour in his Cincinnati Masters defeat by Karen Khachanov was "not good" for tennis.

Murray spoke to Kyrgios after the match in which the Australian abused and swore at Fergus Murphy and called him the worst umpire in the game.

He was fined $113,000 (£93,254) for five separate offences.

"It wasn't good, and I felt for Fergus as he shouldn't have to put up with that," Murray told BBC Sport.

Kyrgios, 24, smashed two racquets in a corridor by the side of the court and called Murphy a "tool" in Wednesday's second-round match.

"I chatted to him a little bit last night after the match," said Murray, who has developed a strong bond with Kyrgios.

"It's obviously up to him, and I think for the most part a couple of weeks ago in Washington [where he won his sixth ATP title], he did a good job of helping himself and using the crowd.

"But obviously this week, he went back to what he was doing before. You just hope he will figure it out, because a week like in Washington is really good for tennis, but last night isn't. Hopefully he gets it figured out."

Kyrgios is now waiting to discover whether the ATP thinks he has committed a "major offence" under the player code. If so, he could face a further fine or even suspension from the tour.

The Australian took part in a light-hearted practice session late on Thursday afternoon before heading to court three to watch Murray and Feliciano Lopez beat Ryan Harrison and Jack Sock in the doubles.

That match was also officiated by Fergus Murphy.

Seven-time winner Roger Federer lost in straight sets to 21-year-old Russian qualifier Andrey Rublev in the third round of the Cincinnati Masters.

The world number 70 won 6-3 6-4 in just over an hour to set up a quarter-final against compatriot Daniil Medvedev.

Swiss 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer, ranked third, plans to compete at the US Open later this month.

Defeat means he will have played just two matches in preparation, after an opening win over Juan Ignacio Londero.

On Rublev, Federer said: "He was excellent today. He didn't give me anything. It was tough for me but an excellent match for him. I was impressed.

"I just would have hoped for an overall better performance. He was mixing it up nicely on the serve and on the return he was really consistent."

In a first meeting between the pair, Federer initially broke back at 2-0 down in the first set but Rublev established a 4-1 lead from which the Swiss could not recover. He again had no answers as the Russian made the decisive break to lead 4-3 in the second.

After his biggest career win to date, Rublev said: "It is such an amazing feeling when you're playing a legend like Roger and all these people supporting him until the end. One day I hope I'm going to feel the same.

"Today I was just trying to do my best and was thinking in my head that I need to play every point until the end no matter what."

Former world number one Andy Murray says he will play no part in this month's US Open.

The 2012 champion had intended to play doubles in New York, but says "doubles is done for me for the time being".

Instead, he will play singles at next week's ATP event in Winston-Salem, before considering entering a tournament on the Challenger Tour during the US Open.

"I'm not going to play doubles at the US Open," Murray told BBC Sport.

"My goal is to get back playing at the level that I want to on the singles court, and I've decided that I need to focus all my energies on that right now," Murray added after he and Feliciano Lopez reached the doubles quarter-finals in Cincinnati.

"The US Open, doubles and mixed, can be another couple of weeks that you are slowing things down."

Murray has taken the final wildcard for next week's event in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He will join Kevin Anderson, Denis Shapovalov, Tomas Berdych and Britain's Dan Evans in the draw.

Most of the field are outside the world's top 50, and some are outside the top 100, but Murray says he would have entered the qualifying event had he lost Thursday's doubles match in Cincinnati.

"Because I want matches, and that's what I need right now," said Murray, who had career-saving hip surgery in January.

"It doesn't feel like I need to play the main draw of every single tour event. I've hardly played the last couple of years and, having discussed with my team, after this week I think doubles is done for me for the time being.

"I need to focus my mind on getting matches on the singles court. There aren't many tournaments between now and the end of the year."

Once his week in Winston-Salem comes to an end, Murray will decide whether to play a Challenger event during the US Open, which starts on 26 August.

"It depends how Winston-Salem goes," he said.

"The feeling I have had since my singles [his first for seven months, against Richard Gasquet in Cincinnati] was that I played decent, but that physically between now and the end of the year I want to get matches in so that for the beginning of next year, I'm feeling ready.

"So if I do well in Winston-Salem, I'll know my level is good enough and I'm ready to win matches at tour level, but if not it makes sense to drop down a level and maybe play some smaller tournaments."

The obvious event for Murray to enter would be the Challenger in New Haven in the second week of the US Open. The field there should be very strong, as many who lose in the first week in New York will choose to compete.

Murray's other option is to return to the practice court, but given the amount of training and rehab he has done over the past couple of years, he says that is not a particularly attractive proposition.

Towards the end of September Murray will head to China, where he is due to play in Zhuhai and Beijing.

The Shanghai Masters in the following week is another option, after which Murray says he hopes to play "three or four events" indoors in Europe before the year is out.

Jonathan Davies refuses to share a room with his brother James - who he says is too messy - but he will make an exception on Saturday.

That's because they will both be in the home dressing room at Cardiff's Principality Stadium, ready to become the first brothers to play for Wales since Jamie and Nicky Robinson in 2006.

This World Cup warm-up match against England will not be the first time the Davies brothers have been team-mates - they are long-time regional colleagues at the Scarlets - but representing their country together will certainly be a novelty.

Centre Jonathan, 31, will be winning his 75th Wales cap, while this will only be a fourth appearance for 28-year-old flanker James.

Seniority rules for the elder brother, then, both in terms of age and status in the squad. Was it always this way?

"I've got a better record in the garden than him," Jonathan grins.

"He's alright, he can handle himself. It's great news for him and I'm looking forward to seeing how he goes.

"He's worked hard over the summer. He's always given a good account of himself and I'm sure he'll do that on Saturday."

It was those childhood duels in the back garden which helped give the Davies brothers their nicknames.

Because their parents ran the Fox and Hounds pub in Bancyfelin, Carmarthenshire, Jonathan earned the moniker 'Fox', which is why his younger brother is known as 'Cubby'.

Those have stuck and, in James' case, to such an extent that he has tattooed the words 'Cubby Boi' with a letter on each finger.

He is the practical joker of the two, a loud character who is as renowned for his eccentric social media persona as he is for forcing turnovers and scoring tries.

"I can't share a room with him," the calmer, more placid Jonathan says about his boisterous younger brother.

"He lived in my flat a few years ago and it was awful! He's very messy."

The brothers were both playing for the Scarlets when they lived together in a flat in Cardiff but, since Jonathan's return from a two-year stint with Clermont Auvergne in France in 2016, the two live apart.

Most brothers will attest that a little distance or time away from one another is healthy; a break from the teasing, the berating and the intense competitiveness, whatever the game.

Despite the drawbacks, sibling rivalry does have its advantages, such as a fierce will to win shaped by countless brotherly clashes.

The Davies' rugby careers are a case in point but, when they were growing up together, neither gave much thought to the idea that they would be Wales team-mates one day.

"No, if I'm honest," says Jonathan.

"It's something I'm sure when we look back on we'll be very proud.

"Mum and dad and my sister will be very proud as well. We're preparing to hopefully go to a World Cup and we're not going to sugar-coat it at all this weekend.

"We want to go out there and give a great account of ourselves and warrant a seat on the plane to Japan."

Japan-bound?

As one of the world's best outside centres and a veteran of two British and Irish Lions tours, Jonathan is guaranteed to be in Wales' final 31-man squad for the World Cup.

That is fitness permitting, of course, as he missed international rugby's showpiece event four years ago because of injury.

The equation is not so simple for James, who has suffered with a raft of injuries himself in recent seasons.

Even if he proves he is over his back issues and other ailments, the open-side flanker will be vying for a place in what is arguably the most competitive area of the Wales squad.

Taulupe Faletau has been ruled out after breaking his cavicle but Wales' back-row options still include Justin Tipuric, Josh Navidi, Ross Moriarty, Aaron Wainwright and Aaron Shingler.

It could be that head coach Warren Gatland only selects five back-rowers to take to Japan, so a rare Wales start against England on Saturday could have a huge bearing on James' hopes of being included in the final squad.

"It's a fantastic opportunity for him," says Gatland.

"We were really impressed with him in Argentina [during the summer 2018 tour] and he's pretty fired up.

"He's someone who's said all his career that everyone's knocked him, said that he's too small, not able to compete at the highest level and we've probably had some of those thoughts as well.

"But having coached him and been involved with him in Argentina, we were incredibly impressed with him.

"It's a great opportunity for him and the first time in a long time that two brothers have played for Wales as well."

When fit, James has impressed in his limited appearances for Wales; disruptive at rucks and an attacking threat when he has the ball in his hands in wide areas.

And after overcoming his latest injury setback, he will not have to look far for inspiration on Saturday.

"Using the drive and hunger to want to get back to the top level helps everyone get over these injuries," his big brother Jonathan says.

"He's worked hard over the summer and he's got the chance he deserves."