Liverpool have announced the signing of FC Salzburg forward Takumi Minamino on a four-and-a-half year deal.

Minamino will officially join for £7.25 million when the January transfer window opens on Jan. 1. His debut could come against Everton in the FA Cup on Jan 5.

"It has been a dream, my dream to become a Liverpool player. And I'm so excited that the moment has come true," Minamino said.

"To play in the Premier League was one of my targets. I think this is the top-class league in the world; I was thinking if my career as a footballer progressed smoothly, someday I would be able to play in the Premier League.

"But I never thought I would be able to play in this team and I'm really happy about it. I'm looking forward to it."

Sources told ESPN how Liverpool beat Premier League rivals Manchester United to the Japan international's signature by triggering the 24-year-old's release clause following their Champions League victory against Salzburg last Tuesday.

And with the Austrian Bundesliga having closed down for its winter break, Minamino completed his medical at Liverpool on Wednesday ahead of the move.

"Their football is of such a high level and I did feel that they were the champions of the Champions League. Feeling that, it makes me feel even happier that I can play in this team. I'm really happy to be part of that team," Minamino added.

"My target is to win the Premier League and the Champions League, and to make good contributions to the team."

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Liverpool beat Mexican side Monterrey 2-1 on Wednesday in the Club World Cup semifinals, setting up a final against Flamengo.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said: "This is fabulous news -- a wonderful signing. We are really, really happy about this.

"Our supporters have had the chance to see him close up recently so I don't need to sing too loudly about his qualities as they are already known.

"Takumi is a very quick, very clever player, he finds space between the lines. He is brave with the ball but also brave without the ball -- a proper team player. He makes the best of himself for the benefit of others."

Dina Asher-Smith, Eliud Kipchoge and Hannah Cockroft are among the athletes of the year

Marathon runners and sprinters have come out on top after thousands of votes were cast in the AW Readers’ Choice Awards, with
Eliud Kipchoge and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce your choice as the international athletes of 2019, while Dina Asher-Smith and Callum Hawkins get the nod as the top British athletes.

The end-of-year stats special edition of AW includes full results but here we highlight the top three in each of the 10 categories.

For the full results breakdown with percentages, check out the December 19 edition of AW magazine, which is available in shops now and digitally here. As well as Readers’ Choice Awards results, the 112-page bumper issue includes global and British rankings, a review of the year and more.

Thank you for voting!

International Male Athlete

1 Eliud Kipchoge
2 Karsten Warholm
3 Sam Kendricks

Kipchoge only competed once in 2019, a course record and then world-leading 2:02:39 in winning at London. However, he made history in a paced non-competitive run in Vienna as he timed a ground-breaking 1:59:41 in the marathon and he wins this year’s international male honour.

International Female Athlete

1 Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
2 Dalilah Muhammad
3 Sifan Hassan

Double Olympic champion Fraser-Pryce was voted top in a year which saw her win the world 100m title in a very fast world-leading 10.71 to just miss her seven-year-old PB. She also won gold in the 4x100m relay and ran 22.22 for 200m.

British Male Athlete

1 Callum Hawkins
2 Adam Gemili
3 Mo Farah

After a marathon PB of 2:08:14 for 10th at the London Marathon to go No.3 on the UK all-time rankings, Hawkins finished fourth in the World Championships – just six seconds outside a medal – after having been in the lead with a mile to go. He claims the British male athlete crown ahead of Adam Gemili and Mo Farah.

British Female Athlete

1 Dina Asher-Smith
2 Katarina Johnson-Thompson
3 Alyson Dixon

Asher-Smith won world 200m gold and 100m silver, breaking her own British records and running European leading times in both (10.83 and 21.88). She also claimed 4x100m silver and won the Diamond League 100m title and her honours this year, as well as being voted AW British female athlete, include a third place in the BBC sports personality of the year.

British Male U20 Athlete

1 Max Burgin
2 Oliver Dustin
3 James Tomlinson

Still only 17, Burgin set a UK under-20 and European under-18 800m record of 1:45.36. He missed the European Under-20 Championships due to injury but his time ranked him No.6 on the UK senior lists for 2019 and his performances impressed the readers of AW the most.

British Female U20 Athlete

1 Amy Hunt
2 Lucy-Jane Matthews
3 Amber Anning

Hunt broke the world under-18 and British under-20 200m record with 22.42 and subsequently won the European under-20 title. Her PB puts her second on the UK senior season rankings and here she topped the British under-20 female vote ahead of Lucy-Jane Matthews and Amber Anning.

British Male Masters Athlete

1 Paul Fletcher
2 Donald Brown
3 John Wright

Fletcher finished third in the world masters M60 indoor 1500m before winning three golds at the European Masters with an unusual treble at 1500m, 10,000m and 800m. The latter was the race of the championships, where he came from well back to snatch victory on the line from fellow Brit Keith McGhie in a vet PB 2:15.22. He also won the Westminster Mile and BMAF title in 5:10 to go second all-time among Brits.

British Female Masters Athlete

1 Clare Elms
2 Jane Horder
3 Caroline Powell

Elms set W55 world indoor marks at 800m, 1500m, mile and 3000m, world outdoor marks at 1500m (4:46.64) and mile (5:10.35) and world bests on the road at mile (5:09), 5km (17:39) and five-mile (29:05). She also set UK outdoor records at 800m (2:22.38), 3000m (10:11.24) and 5000m (17:42.99) and won four golds (1500m, 3000m, cross-country and XC team) in the world indoors in Poland and six golds (1500m, 5000m, 10,000m, cross-country, 10km and XC team) at the European Masters in Italy.

British Male Para Athlete

1 Paul Blake
2 Aled Davies
3 Jonathan Broom-Edwards

Blake won world T36 800m gold in Dubai, claiming an eight-second victory for Britain’s first title of the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships.

British Female Para Athlete

1 Hannah Cockroft
2 Maria Lyle
3 Sophie Hahn

Cockroft added more world titles to her impressive CV and now has another award to go with them too, as she was voted top in our poll after winning T34 100m and 800m gold medals in Dubai with a world record in the shorter sprint.

New Zealand have cancelled the opening day of their scheduled two-day tour match against Victoria XI in Melbourne on Friday due to extreme heat that is forecast.

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting temperatures of 43C in Melbourne on Friday combined with hot north-westerly winds. New Zealand's first Test against Australia was played in 40-degree temperatures each day in Perth and now, the visitors have opted to cancel the first day's play against Victoria.

New Zealand did not play a warm-up game prior to the first Test and this was their only practice match outside of the three Tests on the tour.

The game was scheduled to be a two-day red-ball match played on Friday and Sunday with a day's break in between. They will instead train on Saturday morning at the MCG when temperatures are expected to be a far milder 23C before playing at Scotch College in a single day game on Sunday when the temperature is forecast to be 21C, where it has already been agreed that New Zealand will bat first.

New Zealand coach Gary Stead said it was a common-sense outcome with player safety at the forefront of their mind.

"(We've) decided to cancel tomorrow's game just purely for player welfare and looking after the players," Stead said. "If it's going to be that hot then I'm not sure we're going to get too much out of it and there's just the danger element as well."

New Zealand's bowlers will get a work out on Saturday morning in the MCG nets.

"The guys can bowl the overs then that they would have bowled on Friday and we'll still play the game on Sunday which will be a batting day for us," Stead said.

"It's hard to underestimate the effect that Perth had on us as well. We were in 40-degree temperatures every day. The travel back from Perth to Melbourne is pretty gruelling as well and guys are still struggling a little bit to get their sleep patterns right. Having the extra day shouldn't do any harm for us at all. "

New Zealand trained in warm conditions in Melbourne on Wednesday and fast bowler Trent Boult got through the session unscathed and looks likely to line-up on Boxing Day after missing the Perth Test with an intercostal injury.

"Trent bowled really well," Stead said. "He looked somewhere near back to his best. He's certainly on track to be available for the MCG Test."

Dale Steyn's debut in the BBL for the Melbourne Stars has been delayed due to a niggling side strain with uncapped Pakistan quick Haris Rauf plucked out of Hobart grade cricket to replace him in the Stars squad for their opener against Brisbane Heat at Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast on Friday night.

Steyn injured his side playing for the Cape Town Blitz in the Mzansi Super League in South Africa on December 1. He was scheduled to play the Blitz's last MSL match but it was washed out. After arriving in Australia earlier this week the Stars opted not to play him in their opening match, instead setting him for the clash against Hobart Hurricanes on Sunday in Moe.

"Our priority is Dale's fitness and continuing his treatment," Melbourne Stars physiotherapist Tommy Simsek said. "He is very keen to play but we'll let him rest after a long flight to Australia and put him in the best position to be ready for our match in Moe on Sunday."

Steyn's overseas replacement player, England's Pat Brown, has already arrived in Australia despite not being available to play until Steyn's stint ends. Brown's early arrival was partly designed for him to work with Steyn and he could have played against the Heat but given Brown had not played since turning out for Karnataka Tuskers in the Abu Dhabi T10 league on November 22, having spent the last month in the cold UK winter, the Stars opted not to use him.

Instead, the Stars have called-up Rauf who has been playing club cricket for Glenorchy in Hobart. He is in Australia as part of the Lahore Qalandars Player Development Program. Rauf took 4 for 12 in a T20 game for Glenorchy against Clarence on Saturday including the wicket of Australia and Hobart Hurricanes batsman D'Arcy Short.

Rauf took 11 wickets in 10 matches in the PSL for the Qalandars earlier this year with an economy rate of 7.41 including a match-winning 4 for 23 against the Karachi Kings.

Rauf may not be the only debutant for the Stars with former Perth Scorchers players Nathan Coulter-Nile, Hilton Cartwright and Clint Hinchliffe all named in the 13-man squad to face the Heat on Friday night.

Welcome to ESPNcricinfo's live updates on the IPL auction. If the blog doesn't load for you straightaway, please refresh your page.

The full list of players sold and unsold at the 2020 IPL player auction in Kolkata. (Conversion rates as follows: USD 1 = INR 71; INR 50 lakh = USD 70,400 approx; INR 1 crore = USD 140,800 approx; INR 10 crore = USD 1,408,000 approx)

Sold players

Unsold players

This list will be updated once the auction begins.

MINNEAPOLIS -- New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry let out a sigh of relief after being asked the first question in his postgame news conference. Gentry and the Pelicans could finally enjoy discussing a game.

Brandon Ingram scored 34 points and New Orleans snapped its 13-game losing streak with a 107-99 win against the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night.

Jrue Holiday had 18 points and Lonzo Ball added 10 points, six rebounds and six assists off the bench for the Pelicans, who were coming off a 108-101 overtime loss at home to Brooklyn a night earlier.

"We were tired, but I thought we just kind of grinded it out," Gentry said. "We talked about playing blue-collar desperate. We had to be the most desperate team, not just in this game tonight, but the most desperate team in the league."

Playing without leading scorer and rebounder Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota lost its seventh straight game after shooting 38% from the field. Andrew Wiggins led the Timberwolves with 27 points.

While the Pelicans traveled, Minnesota was rested. The Wolves last played on Friday, a loss at home to the Los Angeles Clippers, and used the time off to practice three times.

"We had four days off, they're on a back-to-back, but you would think it was the other way around if you watched the game," Wiggins said. "They played harder than us. They got more of the loose balls. They played like they wanted it more."

Minus the injured Towns, Minnesota continued to struggle despite altering its starting lineup.

The Wolves led 7-0 early before Ingram started to carry New Orleans. Ingram made seven of his first 10 shots and scored 18 of New Orleans' first 30 points.

The Pelicans took control by finishing the second quarter on an 18-8 run, with Ingram scoring seven during the stretch. Minnesota closed within eight in the fourth but got no closer.

"It feels good to get a win," Ingram said. "I don't think we talked about the streak much. I think we just talked about staying together. I think in the last few games, we just didn't close them out, but we played really, really good defensively to be able to win basketball games."

While New Orleans was able to enjoy snapping its skid, the Wolves must deal with theirs being extended.

"When you lose games, it's heavy, especially in a streak," Minnesota coach Ryan Saunders said. "I liked what we did the last couple days in practice. I know we felt good about those things. It didn't translate tonight."

INGRAM'S DEVELOPMENT

Ingram continues his rise in his first season with New Orleans. With rookie Zion Williamson missing the entire season so far after knee surgery, Ingram has been the primary offensive option.

In three seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, Ingram averaged 13.9 points, 2.0 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game. Entering play Wednesday, he led the Pelicans with 24.9 points per game while chipping in 3.6 assists and 7.1 rebounds. The 34 points on Wednesday were six off his career high set in November.

"He really wants to be a great player," Gentry said. "He continues to work on his defense. He continues to work on expanding his game from a 3-point shooting standpoint because he's really dedicated to becoming a great player."

MISSING TOWNS

Towns was held out because of a left knee sprain and Saunders called the big man day-to-day with the injury. It's the first game this season Towns has missed due to injury. He sat out two games after being suspended for an altercation with Philadelphia's Joel Embiid.

Towns had 39 points and 12 rebounds in the previous game. In the fourth quarter, he went down hard after a missed dunk while being guarded by Montrezl Harrell.

TIP-INS

Pelicans: The 18 points in the first quarter and 25 in the first half were career highs for Ingram in a quarter and half. ... Holiday made three 3-pointers and became the Pelicans' career leader with 556, surpassing Peja Stojakovic. ... New Orleans held an opponent under 100 points for the first time this season. . E'Twaun Moore played 18 minutes and scored seven points in his first action since Dec. 3.

Timberwolves: Robert Covington didn't start for disciplinary reasons after Saunders said Covington arrived late. He came off the bench for the first time this season and scored 15 points. Minnesota was also without starter Jarrett Culver because of flu-like symptoms. Gorgui Dieng started for Towns and had 13 points and eight rebounds. Jeff Teague and Treveon Graham also started in place of Culver and Covington.

UP NEXT

Pelicans: Continue their road trip at Golden State on Friday.

Timberwolves: Travel to Denver to play on Friday.

PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia 76ers entered Wednesday night as the only unbeaten team at home in the NBA.

It turned out, however, the Miami Heat had just the thing to trip the Sixers up: zone defense.

Miami employed the zone liberally Wednesday night, using it on 39 possessions, per Second Spectrum -- more than any team in a single game this season -- as the Heat built a 16-point fourth-quarter lead before hanging on to win 108-104 in front of a sellout crowd of 20,715 at Wells Fargo Center, which went home after a loss for the first time this year.

"Move the ball," said Joel Embiid when asked how to beat the zone. "Make shots.

"I feel like in the fourth quarter, I was a little bit aggressive and my teammates found me. In the first half, that wasn't the case. We have to do a better job at being locked in from the beginning."

The last time these two teams played in this building, on Nov. 23, the Heat played zone defense on just one possession. That game was uncompetitive, with Philadelphia running Miami out of the building, leading by 20 at halftime and winning by 27.

Wednesday night, though, was a very different story. In order to combat Embiid's massive size advantage in the middle, the Heat employed the zone on 40% of their defensive possessions -- and held the Sixers to 12-for-32 shooting (38%), including 7-for-21 from 3-point range.

To put that number in context, the Sixers entered Wednesday night having taken 31 shots all season against a zone defense.

On the 59 possessions the Heat played man-to-man defense, the Sixers shot 26-for-58 (45%). More importantly, their average distance from the basket per shot, per Second Spectrum, was 12.3 feet -- compared to 19.7 feet against the zone.

In other words: the Sixers settled for one jumper after another, and didn't make them.

"I think that we ended up overthinking it too much," Sixers coach Brett Brown said. "I think that we have been quite good against the zone this year, with the fifth-best offense against the zone, so they tell me.

"I feel like it put us on our heels, and I don't think that we responded the way that I thought we would, and I think it crept into our defense. It watered us down on both sides of the ball and finally, we got some life going in the fourth period.

"It was as much a mentality, mood swing, as it was anything. I think that structurally, we got the ball inside and we were 12-for-39 from the three. It watered down our mood."

That certainly appeared to be the case throughout. While Embiid finished with a gaudy stat line -- 22 points, 19 rebounds, three assists, one steal and two blocked shots -- in 35 minutes, he shot just 8-for-19 from the field, including 1-for-5 from 3-point range, and often was left on an island in the middle of the zone waiting to get the ball.

He was just 3-for-10 from the field through the first three quarters, before a late barrage helped propel the Sixers back into the game after trailing by as many as 16 early in the period.

"In the first half, I don't even remember myself being in any action or getting the ball," he said. "[The zone defense] was in the scouting report. We knew they were going to do it, we were prepared for it, but I guess we didn't act on it. We didn't do what we talked about."

The Heat, meanwhile, did do what they talked about. Miami, which now has handed the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors and the Sixers their first home loss of the season, led the entire league in zone defensive possessions last season, per Second Spectrum. The Heat also now lead the league in them this season with 107 after running it so often Wednesday night.

It also helped that Bam Adebayo, Miami's breakout star center, also had a huge bounce-back performance after a rough go against the Sixers last month, finishing with 23 points, nine rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks in 33 minutes, including repeatedly snaking past Embiid on drives for layups.

"You can see how the growth of his game and his being assertive and offensive-minded helps our offense," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "That's not just about shooting 16-foot jump shots, but it's about being aggressive.

"The last time we played them, they totally flattened us out offensively and his tough shots and baskets in the paint are much different than where he was even five weeks ago and that will continue to be better."

Jimmy Butler, meanwhile, had a happier ending in his second game back in Philadelphia after leaving the Sixers in a sign-and-trade to join the Heat this summer. But while he was happy with the result, Butler -- who finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists -- wasn't ready to say the zone defense will be a permanent solution against Philadelphia.

"We threw a zone in there, it worked well for us, but let's not pretend like they didn't miss some shots that they can make, that they made at the end of the game," Butler said.

Philadelphia will probably have to contend with it against Friday, though, when they host the Dallas Mavericks. Per Second Spectrum, no team has run a higher percentage of zone defense than the Mavericks since 2013-14.

After KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma had given India a rousing start, West Indies' bowlers tightened up and bowled 12 successive dot balls to Rohit. Fast bowler Alzarri Joseph found some seam movement and beat Rohit's outside edge while debutant left-arm fingerspinner Khary Pierre attacked the stumps. The build-up of pressure resulted in a near run-out and then a top-edge from Rahul that landed in front of deep square leg.

West Indies, however, couldn't sustain the pressure for long enough and India's openers cranked up the tempo, with both Rohit and Rahul rattling off centuries. Rohit was in such crazy ball-striking form that he scooped the ball for six over extra cover, despite falling on the floor. Rahul also showed off his range, and even launched a low-flying helicopter shot. West Indies then had a brief opening when Joseph had Rahul carving a catch to third man for 102, in the 37th over. However, from thereon, West Indies ended up conceding 160 in their last 13 overs, including 127 in their last 10. There would be no way back for the visitors.

"The last 10 overs went for [so many] runs. And that's where we lost the momentum in the entire game," captain Kieron Pollard said at the post-match press conference. "Before that, we were neck and neck with them [India]. It was a good track, we knew it was a good track, and we didn't really execute at the back end, which has been the storyline for us in terms of when we get a flat track when there isn't much for the bowlers."

Offspin-bowling allrounder Roston Chase had a bowl at the death, giving up four sixes and a four to Shreyas Iyer in a 31-run over. In contrast, Jason Holder, who had found extra bounce and swing in the early exchanges, and Joseph, who had found seam movement with the semi new-ball, didn't finish their quota of ten overs. Sheldon Cottrell, who plucked the wicket of Rahul and Iyer, didn't complete his quota either. However, the left-arm seamer was going at more than nine runs an over.

Pollard defended his decision of looking at other options in the slog overs, saying the frontline bowlers were also proving expensive."At the end of the day, you make a decision, [and] you can talk about why they didn't bowl. But, when they were [bowling], they were going for runs as well," Pollard said. "Sometimes there are decisions you have to make at a certain point of time. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. You crack on and look back as to where you could've done things different and you move on... It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. Cricket is a game of luck and chance. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. A lot of guys haven't bowled ten overs in this series. It's going to happen in the series going forward. We have options and you see how it goes."

West Indies' top order then had a good crack at the steep target of 388, and moved them to 192 for 3 in the 30th over. Then, they lost 5 for 18 and eventually the game, subsiding to 280 all out.

"It is what it is," Pollard said of the middle-order collapse. "It happened in a situation [when we were] in a good position and anytime when you lose wickets frequently, you're on the back foot. Again, that's one of the areas in the chase where we faltered and we accept that."

Amid the faltering, wicketkeeper-opener Shai Hope and big-hitter Nicholas Pooran stood out. Hope posted his fourth fifty-plus score in five innings in India, the latest coming at a strike rate of 91.76 as opposed to a career strike rate of 74.19. Pooran was more brutal at the other end, shellacking 75 off 47 balls, including 41 from Ravindra Jadeja alone.

"There are some youngsters, some talented ones and they are exciting as well," Pollard told host broadcaster Star Sports at the post-match presentation. "It's just a matter of going out and expressing themselves. Shimron [Hetmyer] in the last game, Shai Hope has been consistent in the way he goes about his stuff, and Nicholas Pooran - you got a glimpse of him today. Again, it's a matter of putting in the pieces of the puzzle together."

Pollard backed his side to brush off this heavy defeat and bounce back in the decider, in Cuttack on December 22.

"We're going to go back and try to go over the mistakes that we've made, try to correct it in terms of practice and again come out fighting like we've done throughout the series," he said. "Nothing is going to change for us in terms of how we prepare, the guys have been really, really good when it comes to that. So, it's just a matter of flying tomorrow and get back on the training pitch and trying to put on a show in three days' time."