A beer company has stepped in to pay Monterrey women's team's bonuses for winning the Liga MX Femenil 2019 Apertura championship last Saturday, after the club only offered a tablet for each of the players.

The Rayadas players had been verbally promised a financial bonus for lifting the title, according to ESPN sources, but were bemused when they found out they'd only receive a tablet.

Rayadas players' including captain and leading goal-scorer Desiree Monsivais posted tablet emojis on Tuesday, with the squad angry after being told that the bonus wouldn't be granted because the female team isn't yet making money for the club, according to sources.

But now it appears a Mexican beer company has picked up the bill.

A tweet from the company pointed out that the team had won 16 of its 18 games in the season, that Monsivais was the top scorer in the tournament and that the players deserved more than a tablet.

"They only get a tablet?" read the tweet. "Each player will get a full tournament's wage on us ..."

Three former players of a fourth-division soccer club in Spain were convicted Thursday of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl.

Former Arandina players Carlos Cuadrado, Víctor Rodriguez and Raul Calvo were each sentenced to 38 years in prison. It wasn't clear if the players -- who denied wrongdoing -- would appeal the ruling.

The three were found guilty of assaulting the girl at a rented apartment in 2017. They said they did not have sexual relations with the girl and did not know she was 15 at the time.

Liverpool have moved ahead of Manchester United in the race to sign FC Salzburg forward Takumi Minamino, with sources having told ESPN the Anfield club have agreed to trigger the Japan international's £7.25 million release clause in January.

Minamino, 24, impressed Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp during Salzburg's two Champions League Group E fixtures this season and sources have said the club's sporting director, Michael Edwards, has negotiated with the Austrian champions after discovering the nature of the player's clause.

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United had been monitoring Minamino at the same time as intensively scouting Norwegian forward Erling Haaland, his 19-year-old Salzburg teammate.

Marcel Bout, United's global head of scouting, watched Haaland and Minamino in person this week during Liverpool's 2-0 victory in Salzburg on Tuesday.

But sources have told ESPN that Liverpool have now accelerated their interest in Minamino after learning of United's efforts to sign the former Cerezo Osaka forward.

Liverpool had also been told of interest from a number of Bundesliga and Serie A clubs.

With Liverpool having believed Minamino's true value is in excess of £20m, sources have told ESPN that that the Premier League leaders are now confident of striking a deal at £7.25m in time for the opening of the January transfer window.

Glenn Maxwell will return from a six-week break from the professional game to lead the Melbourne Stars in their Big Bash campaign.

Maxwell took a spell away from the game due to mental health reasons, after admitting to Australia coach Justin Langer that he was "not having that much fun at the moment" during the T20I series against Sri Lanka in October.

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He missed the white-ball leg of Pakistan's tour, but returned to play club cricket for Fitzroy-Doncaster three weeks ago and has joined up with the Stars' pre-season camp ahead of their season opener against the Brisbane Heat on December 20.

David Hussey, the Stars' head coach, said he was delighted to have Maxwell in the camp.

"We're pleased to see Glenn in green and ready to lead our side with a big season ahead," Hussey said. "He's an incredible talent and a key part of our club but health and wellbeing comes first and it's important that he's been able to take some time away to focus on that.

"We're pretty excited with how our list looks and what we're going to bring to the table. We were obviously very close last season and want to go that one step further. We've got a great bunch of guys and I can't wait to see what this group can produce this summer."

Maxwell is also set to go under the hammer at next week's IPL auction, and is expected to fetch a big-money bid.

New Zealand have suffered a bad blow on the opening day against Australia in Perth with debutant Lockie Ferguson picking up a suspected right calf strain.

The injury occurred during the second session and he was quickly sent for an MRI scan to determine the extent of the problem. He wouldn't bowl again on the first day and would be reassessed on Friday morning.

Ferguson had earned his chance after Trent Boult was ruled out having not recovered from the side strain he picked up against England last month.

He was denied a notable maiden Test wicket when Steven Smith was dropped at second slip by Tom Latham shortly before tea and pushed the speed gun into the high 140kph region.

New Zealand now face the prospect of being a bowler down for the remainder of the Test, putting a huge onus on Tim Southee and Neil Wagner along with the medium pace of Colin de Grandhomme and left-arm spin of Mitchell Santner.

Aside from Boult, the other pace bowler in the New Zealand squad is Matt Henry. After this Test in Perth there is a nine-day gap before the second Test in Melbourne.

Only 18.2 overs were possible on a dark, wet day two at Rawalpindi. During the 82 minutes of play - split across the morning and afternoon sessions - Dhanajaya de Silva moved to 72 not out, Sri Lanka added 61 to their day one score and lost just the wicket of Niroshan Dickwella.

Although the sun was not seen through the course of the day, play was able to begin at 9:45 am with the aid of floodlights, which even at that time were casting shadows. Perhaps partly due to the dim conditions, Sri Lanka's overnight pair of de Silva and Dickwella made tetchy starts to day two, finding themselves frequently beaten by Pakistan's quicks, while also mistiming their shots on the occasions they did make contact.

Nevertheless, de Silva in particular succeeded in keeping his account ticking over. His first boundary of the day came from a languid push through the covers off Naseem Shah's first delivery of the day. He would pick up regular singles on the leg side through the remainder of the first session's play as well. He thought he had been dismissed on 48 when he poked at a Naseem away-seamer and sent an edge through to the keeper, but although Pakistan celebrated that wicket, replays suggested the catch had not quite carried to wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan. De Silva was waiting for final confirmation of his dismissal at the boundary when, to his surprise, he was called back to the crease by the umpires.

Drizzle forced an interruption of almost three-and-a-half hours after only 40 minutes of actual play, and when the second new ball became available four overs after resumption, Pakistan had their best spell of play in the day. Naseem was intense through this period, repeatedly beating both batsmen, while drawing thick inside edges that missed the stumps. It was Shaheen Afridi who made the breakthrough from the other end, however, having Dickwella caught sharply at gully by Babar Azam for 33 to end a 67-run stand. Pakistan burned a review later that same over when Afridi thought he had Dilruwan Perera trapped in front, only for the ball to have been shown to have pitched outside leg stump.

Only 12 further deliveries were possible after Dickwella's dismissal, before the umpires took the teams off for bad light, and a round of drizzle subsequently wiped out the remote chance of resumption.

Unai Emery has held talks with Everton and would be keen on a return to the Premier League although a deal now looks unlikely, sources have told ESPN.

The 48-year-old was sacked by Arsenal in November after 18 months in charge and a run of seven games without a win.

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Sources close to the coach have told ESPN that Emery was intrigued by the possibility of taking over at Everton and is open to the idea of taking another Premier League job.

He feels his communication skills in English improved during his time at Arsenal and the way his time there ended means he has a point to prove.

While his final weeks in north London were difficult, Emery enjoyed much of his time in the Premier League, relishing its atmosphere and history, which was key to Everton's appeal.

There was no formal offer from the Merseyside club, however, and they are likely to appoint a different candidate.

Emery is eager to get back to work and has already received multiple job offers. He will maintain his home in north London for the time being, dividing his time between the UK and Spain.

The Premier League is far from his only possible destination and sources have told ESPN there are a number of La Liga clubs the Spanish coach would consider.

Emery has an impressive track record in Spain where he remains highly rated, having guided Valencia to three consecutive third-placed finishes before winning three Europa League titles in a row with Sevilla.

His spells at Paris Saint-Germain and then Arsenal were more mixed, with the Gunners finishing fifth last season, a point off the Champions League places, and beaten comfortably by Chelsea in the Europa League final.

We're more than one-third of the way into the Premier League season and if the league operated under NBA or MLB rules, teams would currently be scrambling to figure out which players they could shuffle in and out of their doors. Title-chasers would be seeking out the final piece to put them over the top. Champions League contenders would be searching for starters. Mid-table teams would consider selling off stars for future prospects. Oh, and relegation fighters would be hunting for anyone who could provide even a minor upgrade.

Player-for-player swaps rarely happen in soccer because there are too many moving pieces involved with transfers. There's the negotiation with the team and then, the negotiation with the player for his new contract. A swap deal doubles the number of dealings because, unlike in the NBA or MLB, contracts don't get traded. But what if we greased the wheels a bit and made player movement easier? What if Premier League teams could trade players and their contracts?

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Here are five completely hypothetical deals that we think would benefit both sides. For as fun as it would be to contemplate things like "Naby Keita for Leroy Sane", we've also tried to stay away from unrealistic trades between teams that are in direct competition with each other.

Tottenham's Christian Eriksen for Manchester United's Diogo Dalot

This is the most NBA-esque trade of the bunch. One team, with the financial capacity to absorb it, makes a "win-now" move for an older player on the last year of his deal, while the other acquires a prospect with the potential to contribute for a long time. Bear with me.

Dalot, 20, has barely played for United after the summer acquisition of Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace. Tottenham, meanwhile, haven't really replaced Kieran Trippier after he went to Atletico Madrid. Jose Mourinho once said that Dalot had "fantastic potential" and even suggested he could be Manchester United's right-back for the next decade. That's not gonna happen but Mourinho's the manager in North London now, so why not shift that prediction over to Tottenham?

Eriksen's Spurs contract expires at the end of the season, and it seems highly unlikely that he'll be back with the club this time next year. So he goes to Manchester for the rest of the season, and potentially beyond, if the club and player get along. Other than Paul Pogba, United have no other midfielders who can, well, pass the ball. Scott McTominay and Andreas Pereira sport some mediocre-at-best completion percentages despite both being relatively conservative passers. Marcus Rashford, the team's main goal-scoring threat, and fullback Ashley Young, 34, lead the team in passes completed into the box. The addition of Eriksen would immediately fix that. Since 2014 in Europe's Big Five leagues, only Lionel Messi has completed more passes into the penalty area.

West Ham's Lukasz Fabianski for Chelsea's Antonio Rudiger

Time for the elephant in Stamford Bridge: Since he arrived at Chelsea in summer 2018, and for a world-record fee for a goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga has been one of the worst shot-stoppers in the Premier League. Chelsea have conceded significantly more goals than expected goals in each of the past two seasons, and Kepa's perhaps been the biggest culprit. Basic metrics like save percentage put him near the bottom of the league, and more advanced systems like post-shot xG, which takes into account the difficulty of the shots a keeper faces, do the same. Kepa has the look and the size of a great keeper, but over the past 18 months he's allowed a bunch of goals on shots that the average keeper would save.

Fabianski, on the other hand, had one of the best keeping seasons in Premier League history for West Ham last year, and the idea of "Flappy-hand-ski" has quickly become a myth. He's 34 and currently injured, but keepers age more gracefully than outfield players, and even if Chelsea weren't keen to replace Kepa, the Pole could at least provide some stiff competition. With a talented, young, and deep squad boasting multiple capable players at seemingly every position, a shot-stopping keeper would provide a more immediate, obvious upgrade than anywhere else on the field.

West Ham would be trading away arguably their most important player from last season in exchange for a German international who was also lights-out for much of last season. With the emergence of 21-year-old Fikayo Tomori and 25-year-old Kurt Zouma at center-back, plus 23-year-old Andreas Christensen waiting in the wings, Chelsea can afford to offload the 26-year-old Rudiger. The Hammers have -- by far -- the worst defense in the league, but that's not necessarily because of Fabianski's injury. His backup, Roberto, has also saved an above-average number of shots. However, the team is allowing right around two xG per game.

They don't need someone to stop the shots; they need someone to prevent the shots from happening in the first place.

Arsenal's Granit Xhaka to Burnley, Burnley's Dwight McNeil to Leicester, Leicester's Kelechi Iheanacho to Arsenal

We needed at least one multi-team trade, so here it is. Xhaka's become persona non grata at Arsenal, but despite a number of high-profile, self-inflicted gaffes, he remains one of the best passers in the Premier League. Play a game of word association with Burnley and your time on Earth will likely expire before you even come close to landing on "passing." Nick Pope is second on the team in passes completed into the attacking third; Nick Pope is also a goalkeeper. Xhaka would give Burnley something they've never had under Sean Dyche and he's not clearly unfamiliar with the physical style of play that's preferred at Turf Moor, either.

Dyche would hate to lose McNeill -- just 20, he's already the team's leading creator -- but Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes are the team's two most important attacking pieces and Xhaka's presence would provide some new attacking patterns that the team doesn't currently have access to. For Leicester, McNeill gives the team some much-needed attacking depth, making them a little more robust against injury as they try to lock up a spot in the top four. His age also fits within the larger profile of the rest of the team.

As for Arsenal, they've lost most of their negotiating power re: the Xhaka situation, so they'll just be happy to move him on. (They'll also need to cover a significant portion of his contract even after they trade him because Burnley won't be able to afford Xhaka's full contract.) Iheanacho put up world-class attacking numbers in limited minutes with Manchester City a few years ago, but it just hasn't happened for him at Leicester. He's played just 92 Premier League minutes this year (including one start), both of them in December, and with each passing week it looks more likely that his performance at City was a product of the system. However, he's still only 23, so Arsenal at least get a young lottery ticket in exchange for the former club captain.

With the team seemingly stuck in neutral -- if not reverse -- the club could use more low-cost, low-risk players with sky-high best-case-scenario potential.

Liverpool's Adrian for Southampton's Sofiane Boufal

Before the Champions League final, I told you about how Alisson led all Premier League keepers in a goals-saved-above-average model created by the company Stats Perform. The model simulates how every keeper in the league would fair against every shot taken across the entire competition and then compares them to each other. Alisson, of course, got hurt in Liverpool's opening match of the season, but Adrian stepped in and did his best possible impression.

I'm speaking literally here: During his time as the starter, Adrian led the Premier League in the same goals-saved-above-average rating. Down near the bottom of that stat? Southampton's Angus Gunn. Adrian would provide an immediate boost for the Saints, and for a team in a relegation fight, a keeper would be way easier to integrate on the fly than a field player.

Boufal is one of the best dribblers in the world, but he's never been able to get consistent playing time with Southampton. At 24, he's relatively young, he carries the ball as well as anyone in the Premier League and on a per-90-minute basis (from a limited sample size), he's been one of the most effective creators, too.

Jurgen Klopp's team still don't have any great alternatives beyond the fantastic front three, and unleashing Boufal off the bench could provide a new dynamic. More importantly, though, this move checks the two most important Liverpool transfer boxes: 1. He plays for Southampton, and 2. He plays for a team that might get relegated.

Everton's Gylfi Sigurdsson for Newcastle's Jonjo Shelvey

If you squint hard enough, Everton have the outlines of a pretty good Premier League team. They press as well as any team not coached by Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola. They're near the top of the league in shots attempted per game, and they're near the bottom of the league in shots allowed. In other words, they do what all dominant modern teams do: Win the ball back high up the field and make sure most of the action happens around your opponent's goal rather than yours.

So what's the issue? Well, they're not able to do much with the ball after they win it back. Despite all the shots they take, they're only in the middle of the pack for expected goals; put another way, they struggle to generate high-quality chances in any kind of attacking space. Enter Shelvey, who hasn't played much for Steve Bruce but who is one of the best midfielders in the league at playing passes that take opposing defenders out of the play. Don't expect Shelvey to do much else -- see: him entering the doghouse of every manager he's played for -- but Everton have more than enough conservative midfielders to cover for his inadequacies.

Sigurdsson has been a fixture in the Everton starting XI this year, but he doesn't quite fit the fast-paced style described above. The Magpies, however, seem to have settled into an uber-defensive style that tries to limit the chances allowed on both ends of the field. Sigurdsson is one of the best set-piece takers in the league, and for a team that's last in the league in expected goals generated, his dead-ball dominance would be especially valuable.

Melbourne Renegades have made a left-field move on the eve of the Big Bash League season signing Lancashire quick Richard Gleeson to replace Usman Shinwari who was withdrawn due to international duty.

Shinwari was called up for his Test debut against Sri Lanka and is now unavailable for the BBL while fellow Pakistan allrounder Faheem Ashraf has also been withdrawn from the tournament to remain in Pakistan.

Gleeson, 32, has impressed over the last four seasons of the T20 Blast in England. He started his career with Northamptonshire before moving to Lancashire. He has experience overseas having played in the Bangladesh Premier League for the Rangpur Riders in 2016. He also toured West Indies with the England Lions in 2018.

Gleeson will now play the first eight games of the BBL as one of the Renegades overseas players before Mohammad Nabi arrives for the second half of the tournament.

"Richard bowls with genuine pace and is capable of hitting the areas that make it difficult for batsmen to score on a regular basis. His skills in the power play and at the death have resulted in him being one of the best T20 bowlers in the UK T20 Blast in recent years," Renegades Head coach Michael Klinger said.

"It's obviously unfortunate to lose Shinwari and Ashraf on the eve of the season but sometimes that's the nature of T20 cricket in a busy international schedule. We know things can change quickly with international players and we need to be ready to respond.

Harry Gurney, who was a key part of the Renegades title last season, is now available for the entire season which means the Renegades do not need a fourth overseas player.

"We're delighted to have Harry Gurney for the whole tournament given his performances in the Big Bash last season and Nabi will also be a welcome addition when he arrives in January," Klinger said.