Former Liverpool player Daniel Sturridge is edging closer to a move to Turkish club Trabzonspor, sources have told ESPN FC.

The Black Sea-based side have made Sturridge an improved offer worth approximately €2-3 million including bonuses.

Sturridge's mother and uncle -- who also acts as his agent -- travelled to Istanbul on Thursday and will arrive to Trabzon on Friday where club officials will show them around the region and hold advanced talks.

The club had trouble convincing the England international into relocating to Trabzon in their last round of talks but feel they are in a stronger position following the end of the Premier League transfer window last week.

The "Black Sea Storm" are confident that they will be able to sign Sturridge and expect the move to go ahead over the next few days unless he receives a better offer elsewhere. Sturridge,29, was holding out for a Premier League side to make a move but he received no offers from England.

Trabzonspor face competition Super Lig rivals Basaksehir, but the Istanbul-based side are only prepared to pay Sturridge €1 million per year due to his injury record and off-the-field issues. Sturridge picked up a short ban for a breach of betting regulations but is able to play football again after serving his suspension.

Sturridge has also held talks with MLS team D.C. United but the club also has had concerns over his injuries.

Sturridge has spent his entire career on the books of Premier League clubs, playing for the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool. He has also had loan stints with Bolton Wanders and West Bromwich Albion.

He has been part of two UEFA Champions League-winning sides, the first in 2010-11 with Chelsea and then last season with Liverpool. He was also part of Chelsea's league-winning campaign in 2009-10. All told he has made 306 appearances at club level, scoring 105 goals.

At the international level, Sturridge has made 26 appearances for England, scoring eight goals. He was part of England squads at the 2012 Olympics, the 2014 World Cup, and Euro 2016.

Manchester United ended their interest in Bruno Fernandes because of concerns the midfielder loses possession too much, sources have told ESPN FC.

United looked at Fernandes as a potential option to boost their midfield after an impressive season that saw the Portugal international score 31 goals for Sporting Lisbon.

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However, the club's recruitment team voiced concerns about the 24-year-old's passing statistics -- highlighting that he gives the ball away too much -- before deciding he did not fit in with the possession-based style of football favoured by Solskjaer.

Sources have told ESPN FC that United also became frustrated at the amount of speculation in Portugal about a possible move for Fernandes.

Privately, Old Trafford chiefs believed Sporting tried to drive up the price by over-stating interest from the Premier League. Tottenham and Liverpool were also linked with moves.

United did not replace Marouane Fellaini or Ander Herrera during the summer transfer window and Solskjaer is set to make signing a new midfielder his priority next summer.

Sean Longstaff remains a target despite United being put off by Newcastle's £50 million valuation.

The 21-year-old is set to open talks over a new contract to extend his stay at St James' Park.

Meanwhile, sources have told ESPN FC that the club are ready to open contract talks with Victor Lindelof.

The 25-year-old defender has two years and a year's option left on his deal but is set to be rewarded with a new contract for establishing himself as one of Solskjaer's first-choice centre-backs.

Lindelof struggled in his first year at Old Trafford following a £31m move from Benfica in 2017 but was one of the stand-out players last season, making 40 appearances in all competitions.

LA Galaxy forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic has said new signing Cristian Pavon is "too good" for Major League Soccer and will not stay in the United States for long.

The Argentina international had been a target for Arsenal in the past but joined Galaxy on Aug. 8.

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He made his debut in the 2-1 defeat to D.C. United, before impressing as Galaxy beat FC Dallas 2-0 to end a run of three consecutive defeats.

"He is very good," Ibrahimovic said of Pavon after the win over Dallas. "He is too good for MLS."

Pavon was involved in the move which led to Ibrahimovic's 68th-minute opener and the ex-Manchester United forward said it showed his new teammate's quality.

"I think MLS will not have him for a long time," he added. "We should enjoy him while he is here."

At 37 years of age, Ibrahimovic is 14 years Pavon's senior, but said he does not need to offer the ex-Boca man any advice as he is already a difference maker.

"When you have a player like that, you don't need to say much," he said. "You just communicate in the game and try to make the best of it.

"He knows what he is doing. This is his second game and he was the best on the field and today he made a difference.

"I have played with many players and I see when a player is the difference, and he is the difference."

Tea Sri Lanka 143 for 3 (Mathews 41*, Ajaz 3-37) trail New Zealand 249 (Taylor 86, Dananjaya 5-80, Lakmal 4-29) by 106 runs

It wasn't the most exciting session of Test cricket for most parts, neither was it one where both sides conceded the advantage to the other. New Zealand kept plugging away in the hope of building pressure and keeping the scoring down to frustrate batsmen, while Sri Lanka were happy to bide their time and not commit the kind of mistakes New Zealand did on the opening day against spin, Akila Dananjaya in particular.

Then, with the tea interval four minutes away and with the confidence of a half-century behind him, Kusal Mendis did something that he so often has in his career: eliciting frustration among the fans and cricket faithfuls alike, looking to blast a delivery he just couldn't hold back, only to edge Ajaz Patel to slip. And just like that, an hour's consolidation and stonewalling that appeared to give Sri Lanka a semblance of control just crashed as they went into tea on 143 for 3, still trailing by 106 runs.

In a 20-minute passage on either side of drinks, Sri Lanka found scoring tough, scoring just eight runs in 10 overs. Mathews was meeting the ball with his full forward stride, but there was a sense that he may have been going into his shell. Then came two long-hops off Tim Southee, which he crashed for boundaries to break the shackles. The first of the two was a short ball thumped through point and the second a neat little tuck off his hips to the fine-leg boundary.

Now, all revved up, he turned ultra-aggressive when he lofted Mitchell Santner over long-off, and cleared the ropes despite not hitting it well. But by then, the stranglehold New Zealand seemed to have built around the Sri Lankans had eased.

Kusal Mendis, technically solid but often with a tendency of playing a shot too many at inopportune moments, shelved his flamboyance to dig in. He didn't score a single boundary after drinks and significantly slowed down, but at no stage showing frustration of playing a shot or two in anger, considering he started like a bullet train before lunch.

Towards the end of the session, Kane Williamson, perhaps realising the importance of this stand, brought back Trent Boult for a crack after a first spell of five overs that went for just seven. This didn't make much of a difference as he struggled to move the ball or cause much ruffle, forcing Williamson to alternate between William Somerville and Ajaz to end the session, and the move worked.

New Zealand burnt a review along the way with Kusal on 29 for an lbw appeal off Santner, with the ball appearing to have struck him outside leg. It was a review out of desperation from a side that had packed their starting XI with three spinners in the hope of the ball jumping and fizzing. While there was turn and bounce, it was consistent bounce. Their only wicket in the session was Dimuth Karunaratne, when he went back and was beaten by drift to be trapped in front by Ajaz after doing all the hard work to make 39.

In the morning, however, New Zealand unravelled dramatically in the face of an excellent Suranga Lakmal spell,. Lakmal claimed the prize wicket of Ross Taylor for 86 with his first ball of the morning, then went on to deliver a spell of 5.2 overs that yielded 4 for 15, as New Zealand lost their last five wickets for 46 runs.

Attempting a cut to a short-of-a-length Lakmal ball close to his body, Taylor supplied a straightforward edge to the wicketkeeper. Santner didn't last the first half hour either, shouldering arms to a Lakmal indipper that would have gone on to clip the stumps had it not struck pad.

With both recognised batsmen out early in the day it was up to New Zealand's tail to provide some sort of resistance, but only Boult succeeded for any reasonable length of time, hitting a six and a four on his way to 18 off 22 balls. He eventually holed out trying to hit Lakmal for another six down the ground, before No. 11 Ajaz was out lbw first ball, attempting a legside flick. New Zealand's innings was wrapped up soon after drinks.

Sri Lanka had 13 overs to bat out before lunch and, in that time, lost opener Lahiru Thirimanne, and should have lost Karuanarate as well, had Taylor held a sharp chance at slip. That chance, however, didn't prove too costly for the New Zealanders.

Brendon McCullum is set to take over as head coach at Kolkata Knight Riders for the upcoming season, to go with his appointment as the head coach of Trinbago Knight Riders, the other team owned by the same group.

Less than a week ago, it had been learnt that McCullum would take over as head coach at Trinbago but only as assistant coach with the IPL franchise, following his retirement from all forms of the game earlier in the month. That's changed since, with the top job at the Kolkata franchise going to the former New Zealand captain, too.

ESPNcricinfo understands that McCullum, whose appearance for Toronto Nationals against Brampton Wolves in the Global T20 Canada league was his last representative match, has been signed up by the Knight Riders franchise - which owns both teams - for at least the upcoming seasons of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and the IPL.

McCullum, 37, was expected to play in the Euro T20 Slam from August 30 as an icon player for Glasgow Giants but instead announced his retirement as a freelance cricketer. It's understood that the decision to skip the new tournament was because Trinbago wanted him to helm the team at the CPL this year itself, and the dates of the two competitions clashed; the CPL starts from September 5.

Indeed, in his message on Instagram at the time of announcing his retirement, McCullum had mentioned that "the next chapter, in both media and coaching, will challenge me further".

Kolkata recently announced that they were parting ways with Jacques Kallis, their head coach, and Simon Katich, the assistant coach who was also the head coach at Trinbago.

McCullum had retired from international cricket in 2016, after the Christchurch Test against Australia, but continued to turn out in franchise-cricket leagues around the world, with stints in the IPL with Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore, as well as Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash, Lahore Qalandars in the PSL and Trinbago in the CPL.

His association with the Knight Riders goes way back. An early pathbreaker of sorts in T20 cricket, McCullum's best was the unbeaten 158 he made for the Kolkata team against Royal Challengers in the inaugural IPL game, in 2008.

In December 2018, McCullum went unsold at the IPL auction. In February, he called time on his BBL career with Heat after a relatively strong season in which he made 302 runs in 13 innings. At the time, he expressed his desire to continue playing T20 cricket worldwide.

Only two weeks ago in London, McCullum was signed by Glasgow for the inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam, where he was to team up with Dale Steyn, among others. However, the desire to "plough on regardless" didn't appeal to him.

"I owe it to myself and the teams I represent to close that chapter rather than just plough on regardless of what I know to be true," he wrote. "In T20 cricket, I've enjoyed so many varied challenges, I can leave the game knowing I left no stone unturned."

As collective bargaining agreement negotiations between the NFL and the NFLPA continue to make little progress, the NFLPA has issued a "work stoppage guide" to its players to help them prepare in case of a strike or lockout following the 2020 season.

Sources on both sides continue to insist a work stoppage is unlikely. But the NFLPA has said all along that its mission is to "negotiate for the best while preparing for the worst." So while the current CBA doesn't expire until March 2021, the players' union is trying to make sure its members are prepared in case negotiations go sideways.

Much of the guide, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN, is focused on helping players manage their money in advance of -- or in case of -- a strike or lockout. The specific suggestions include:

• Save at least half of each paycheck, if not more. If your current expenses are too high to save this much, you should look at ways to change your spending habits and reduce financial commitments.

• Try cooking at home instead of eating out as much.

• Designate one day a week as "no spending day."

• Take care of major home repairs now.

• If you're in the market for a new home, consider renting instead of buying for now.

• Find renters for your unoccupied homes or bedrooms.

• Consider selling a car you have not driven in the past six months.

• Avoid signing a long-term lease on any rental property that you rarely use.

• Learn to say "no" -- or at least, "not now" -- to friends and family asking for money.

• Consider selling clothes you have not worn in a year on Poshmark, Thredup or Tradesy.

Other parts of the guide address specifics of what the rules might be during a work stoppage, in terms of access to team facilities (none), whether the league would conduct a draft (it did in 2011 while players were locked out) and whether players would still be subject to drug testing during a work stoppage (they don't know).

Players and owners have conducted a handful of negotiating sessions this summer, and commissioner Roger Goodell has said publicly that the league would like a new CBA in place before the start of the 2019 season. But sources say little progress has been made in talks so far, as the main issue remains the revenue split between players and owners. Currently, the players' share of all league revenue can't fall below 47% in a given year, and the players want that figure to go up.

More negotiating sessions between players and owners are tentatively scheduled for next week, sources say, though the key word there is "tentatively." Talks between staff members for each side have been ongoing, and the two sides figure to decide in the coming days whether there's likely to be enough progress to warrant formal negotiating sessions next week.

In the sixth over of India's chase in the third ODI in Port of Spain, Virat Kohli, batting on 11, was surprised by a Keemo Paul delivery that went past him as he tried to make room to play on the leg side and caught an inside edge. Behind the stumps, Shai Hope couldn't get enough of his gloves on the ball and dropped it. Kohli went on to score an unbeaten 114 and clinch the match for India. It was a chance that Jason Holder rued at the end of the match.

"We have got to hold our chances and we didn't hold them today. [Kohli] made us pay for it," Holder said at the press conference. "Credit to him he batted really well and he won the game for India in the end.

"They got off to a really good start and so did we. I think it was a really, really good wicket for cricket. Conditions got a little tougher in the afternoon after the rain fell. The ball was a bit wet and the outfield was obviously very wet, too. It didn't work for us today."

Before the match, Carlos Brathwaite had said that the team wasn't playing as badly as results suggested and the problem for the side came down to executing the critical moments. That held true in the third ODI, too. There were times, with bat and ball, when West Indies looked like they had the upper hand. Like that opening stand of 115 in nearly 11 overs between Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis, and Fabien Allen's double-strike in the 13th over to dismiss Rishabh Pant and Shikhar Dhawan. But they failed to build on the big moments.

"From T20s to the last ODI here, we have played some pretty decent cricket in patches, it is just a matter for us to put it together more often than not and that's where we continue to let ourselves down," Holder said.

"It's just a matter for us to continue to build, you know. I keep saying it's a matter for us to really seize the key moments of the game and play those key moments a little bit better than we have been in the past."

Holder said there were a lot of individual performances - positives - that the team could build on going into the Test series and beyond.

"The way Chris played today, Evin Lewis too showed a lot of form. The bowlers had a reasonable time too. The last game I thought we bowled really, really well," he said. "Today we were off a little bit, but generally our bowling has led us in the last couple of games.

"Nicholas Pooran continues to show what he can produce here at this level. Every single batter today really put their hands up today. I was really, really pleased how we batted in the situation after the rain break. In the past we lost too many wickets and not being able to - or struggled to - bat, and I think we handled the situation very well today and put ourselves in a really good situation in the halfway stage, you know. Just unfortunate we weren't able to defend it but when you don't hold your chances these things happen."

With the Test series beginning on August 22, Holder urged the side to carry the momentum from their 2-1 series win over England earlier this year. An additional incentive for the side will be the points in the World Test Championship.

"We've got a few days off. This is a fresh group, different faces coming in to the Test squad. It's a matter for us to continue doing the good work we have been doing in Test cricket in the last two-three years," he said. "The first series we had this year was a success. I know the guys would be ready to go against India here in this second series of the year.

"Obviously with the Test championship around it's something I look forward to play. I think the guys are up for it. We started really well this year beating England at home and you know we had some brilliant individual performances. It's just a matter for us to build. The Test championships are two years away, we have a lot of cricket to play in the next two years, I think every series will be important. Each and every moment in the series will be important."

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Albert Pujols had two hits and three RBIs Wednesday and set the major league record for career hits by a foreign-born player, leading the Los Angeles Angels to a 7-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Pujols had an RBI single in the 4th inning. His 3,167th hit moved him past fellow Dominican Republic native Adrian Beltre (3,166) and into sole possession of 15th place for career hits.

Luis Rengifo also drove in two runs for the Angels, who snapped a three-game home losing streak. Dillon Peters (3-1) allowed two runs in six innings while striking out six after an erratic start.

Melky Cabrera and Elias Diaz each had an RBI for the Pirates, who failed to complete a three-game sweep of the Angels. Pittsburgh has not won three in a row since July 1-3, against the Chicago Cubs.

Chris Archer (3-9) allowed four runs, three earned, in five innings, and his streak of starts without a win reached 12 games. It is the longest such span in Archer's eight-year career.

The Angels scored four runs in the fourth inning to erase a two-run deficit. Los Angeles moved in front on Rengifo's double to left field. The Pirates' Bryan Reynolds overran the ball when it dropped in, and it bounced all the way to warning track. Rengifo kept running, rounding third and sliding headfirst into home to give the Angels a two-run lead.

The 39-year-old Pujols drove in Los Angeles' first run with his record-setting single. David Fletcher followed with an RBI double that tied the game at 2-all.

Pittsburgh pulled within 4-3 in the seventh inning. Diaz scored from third when Erik Gonzalez hit into a double play.

Pujols put the Angels ahead 6-3 with a two-run single in the eighth inning. Rengifo drove in Pujols to make it 7-3.

Diaz had an RBI single in the ninth inning for the final margin of victory.

The Pirates jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Peters loaded the bases with no outs with a walk and hitting two batters. Josh Bell hit into a double play that scored Kevin Newman, and Cabrera had an RBI single to right that made it 2-0.

STILL WAITING

The Pirates' last series sweep came June 21-23 against San Diego, and they have not won every game in a road series since May 17-19 at the Padres. They have swept two road series this season, the other coming when they took two games at Detroit on April 15-16.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Pirates: C Jacob Stallings was scratched from the starting lineup because of a migraine. ... RHP Jameson Taillon will miss the 2020 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery for the second time.

Angels: RHP Noe Ramirez (viral infection) was recalled from the injured list Wednesday and served the first game of a three-game suspension for hitting Astros OF Jake Marsinick with a pitch on July 16.

UP NEXT

Pirates: RHP Joe Musgrove (8-11, 4.71 ERA) will start in the opener of a three-game series against the Cubs at home on Friday. Musgrove is 0-1 in two starts against the Cubs this season, but has not allowed an earned run in 9 1/3 innings.

Angels: LHP Andrew Heaney (1-3, 4.89) gets the nod in the first game of a four-game series against the Chicago White Sox on Thursday. Heaney is 1-2 with a 5.13 ERA in five home starts this season.