Juventus defender Joao Cancelo has signed for Premier League champions Manchester City for £27.6 million.

We've got our man! ?

Welcome to the Champions, João Cancelo!

? #mancity

— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 7, 2019

The Portugal international, who primarily plays as a right-back, though he can also play on the right wing and at left-back, arrives as part of a £55.25m deal that sees Danilo join Juventus.

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Cancelo, 25, joined Juventus from Valencia in 2018 for a fee of €40m, having spent the previous season on loan at Inter Milan.

The defender made 25 Serie A appearances last season as Juventus won the league title, and was part of Portugal's Nations League-winning squad earlier this summer.

Cancelo's arrival marks City's fourth signing of the summer, following the additions of Rodri, Angelino and Zack Steffen to manager Pep Guardiola's squad.

Danilo joined City from Real Madrid in 2017 and won back-to-back Premier League titles under Guardiola as well as two EFL Cup trophies and an FA Cup. The Brazilian will be hoping to add to this impressive trophy haul in Italy, which would represent the fifth country in which he has won a league title.

David Luiz refused to train with Chelsea's first team on Wednesday in hopes of forcing a move out of Stamford Bridge, sources have told ESPN FC.

Luiz going on strike was first reported in France by L'Equipe and has since been confirmed by ESPN FC.

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Arsenal, who are actively looking for a centre-back, are interested in recruiting the Brazilian, who is also keen on joining the Gunners, sources have told ESPN FC. But other centre-backs are also on Arsenal manager Unai Emery's wish list, including Juventus and Italy defender Daniele Rugani.

Luiz, 32, has two years left on his contract after signing a new deal only a few months ago. Arsenal are only looking at a loan or a loan with a small fee as they can't pay the price that a club like Chelsea would demand for a player of his calibre. They are yet to make an offer to Chelsea for the former Paris Saint-Germain man.

Sources have also told ESPN FC that Luiz has fallen out with Blues manager Frank Lampard in recent days. There have been a few issues between the two men, and Luiz is clearly behind Antonio Rudiger, Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen in the pecking order of the new manager.

The Brazilian international is determined to leave Chelsea this summer. He rejoined the London club for £31.5m in August 2016 for a second spell after playing there between January 2011 and his departure to PSG in July 2014.

A single football match is one telling of a hundred stories, a small drama in every hard tackle, in every substitution, in every counter and cross. Fates of players and managers and the hearts of entire cities will move depending on how those dramas finally combine and unfold.

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There are 380 matches, 380 chances to change everything, in the impossible spectacle that is the Premier League season. The last campaign was riveting to its finish: After all that, Manchester City held off Liverpool by a single precious point, and Spurs qualified for the Champions League by the same slim margin over archrival Arsenal.

Somehow, the 2019-20 season looks to be even more compelling. This weekend's opening fixtures alone should become the first few lines of a classic.

At the very top of the table, there's no reason to think that Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp won't again duel for supremacy in football's best rivalry. Let's take a moment to remember that Liverpool lost a single match last season and weren't good enough to win the league. They lost once and finished second.

The margin between Pep's manic collection of intricacies (now including young Rodri, declared "a perfect fit" by perpetual Player of the Year candidate Kevin De Bruyne) and Klopp's speed-metal approach couldn't be finer. Every game involving either City or Liverpool -- the first clash between them takes place on Nov. 9 at Anfield -- will feel like a must-win.

The remaining big clubs will contribute their share to the plot. Can Harry Kane and Spurs, finally back home in Tottenham, crack City's stranglehold on the title? (No.) Will Unai Emery be able to harness Arsenal's dynamic front three -- welcome to London, Nicolas Pepe -- and lift the Gunners into the top four? (He'll be in trouble if he can't.) What will Chelsea look like without Eden Hazard in the lineup but with club legend Frank Lampard at the helm and American Christian Pulisic on the gallop? (Less like statues.) Where will Manchester United finish under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's wildly erratic watch? (Sixth.)

The middle of the table, rather than playing its usual function of skimmed second act, is poised to be more exciting than it has been in years. There's a real opportunity for the forgotten sides that usually compete for seventh to finish in the top six, with Leicester City and the ascendant Wolves each in with a chance to upstage Man United especially. Imagine the hysterics at Old Trafford.

No, wait. Close your eyes and imagine. [Takes drag off cigarette.] Oh, that's the good stuff.

On the subject of perfection, this season's table is as close to flawless in its assembly as we could wish. Last year's relegation battle was largely foregone. Fulham will be missed, if only because Craven Cottage is a jewel, but Huddersfield Town's top-flight tenure might soon be seen as anomalous as Blackpool's. What the hell was that?

Instead, the Premier League returns to Sheffield, England's capital of defiance, for the first time in 12 seasons with the promotion of attack-minded Sheffield United. Mighty Birmingham, too, has ended its briefer exile with Aston Villa's playoff triumph. Look for Jack Grealish, with his Peaky Blinders haircut and creative footwork, to become a star. And Norwich City soared in the Championship last season, scoring a thrilling 93 goals on their way to 94 points and promotion to the top flight.

Which clubs don't belong up top? Bournemouth still seem a strange diversion, but Eddie Howe's Cherries play such an attractive, optimistic game, it's difficult to begrudge them a spot. Trading Brighton out for Leeds, say, might provide the more "complete" Premier League, but that's editing for the sake of change: The bottom of this year's table will provide plenty of interest ... and trouble for the better clubs.

One widely discussed AI-driven forecast, led by BT Sport, predicts that Newcastle United, Norwich City and Sheffield United will each earn more than 30 points but still be relegated. The point totals, if not the sides that earn them, seem about right. The same model suggests that only 12 points will separate last place from the eleventh spot, in contrast to last season's gap of 34. Incredibly, that seems right, too.

There's no longer much debate whether the modern Premier League is the most compelling in the world. Last season's Champions League and Europa League finals, which featured all English clubs, put an end to the argument. The EPL is the work that casts a shadow on other giant works.

Now watch the Premier League become the best-written version of itself. None of its lines should be wasted; its magnificent cast of characters should each play his due role. And like all good stories, its finish should be equal parts surprising and inevitable -- if we're lucky, a drama so perfect that it becomes a fairy tale.

Once upon a time is about to begin.

Jofra Archer got through 19 overs for Sussex's 2nd XI on Wednesday to further emphasise his readiness for a likely Test debut at Lord's next week.

With James Anderson already ruled out of that Test, Warwickshire confirmed today that Olly Stone would miss at least two weeks' cricket with a back problem, leaving Archer and Sam Curran as the frontrunners to bolster the pace attack against Australia.

Mark Wood (side and knee) and Lewis Gregory (foot) are also injured, meaning England's seam bowling stocks are relatively bare.

After a staggering first day, in which he took 6 for 29 in 12.1 overs before hitting a rapid hundred from number six, Archer had a quieter day at Woodmancote against a young Gloucestershire 2nd XI.

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He leaked a few runs in his first spell, as opener Tom Price hit three boundaries in the first four balls he bowled, before Greg Willows pulled a short ball for six over long leg.

But Archer ended up with 19 overs under his belt, returning figures of 1 for 78. There was a brief scare after he dropped a difficult caught-and-bowled chance, as he stayed down for around a minute, but he picked himself back up and took the wicket of George Drissell, who fended a short ball that rose sharply off the pitch to gully.

Archer is playing in the fixture to prove his fitness, after suffering a side strain during the World Cup, although Sussex coach Jason Gillespie told TalkSPORT he was "surprised" he had missed out on the first Test and that Archer was "100 percent fit, ready to go".

Curran, meanwhile, is set to play in Surrey's Vitality Blast fixtures on Thursday and Friday, though will be made unavailable for Sunday's game at Glamorgan.

While Archer has not made a first-class appearance in nearly 11 months, Curran has played four games for Surrey this Championship season - taking 18 wickets at 23.22 - as well as an England Lions game and the Test against Ireland two weeks ago. Curran took 3 for 28 in that game, but with coach Trevor Bayliss highlighting the need for "guys with a bit more pace", Archer looks to be the front-runner.

It is feasible that both seamers could play, with Joe Denly dropping out and Ben Stokes moving up to number four, though captain Joe Root stressed after the defeat at Edgbaston that England "don't have to make any shotgun decisions in terms of selection.

"We got plenty of time before the next game," Root said. "It's really important that we're very clear on how we want to go about it."

Anderson, meanwhile, remains hopeful of playing some part in the rest of the series.

"The thought of more time away from the game is driving me nuts," he told The Sun. "I haven't thought about giving up. My body feels great everywhere else, I'm as fit as I've ever been. It's just this one muscle that is bugging me and not allowing me to do what I want to.

"I'm pretty confident I can get over this, I want to keep going. The plan is to get back and play some part in The Ashes but, if that doesn't work out, the winter is absolutely on my radar."

Northamptonshire 145 for 6 (Wakely 47*, Potts 3 for 31) beat Durham 124 for 8 (Handscomb 65*, Keogh 3 for 30) by 21 runs

Rob Keogh was the unlikely hero with the ball for Northamptonshire as they pulled off a tremendous defence of only 145 to beat Durham by 21 runs at Wantage Road and claim their second win in the Vitality Blast.

Sent in, the home side laboured to a modest total but Alex Wakely's unbeaten 47 in 35 balls gave them a score to defend. Keogh then took advantage of a pitch that gripped to take 3 for 30 - comfortably his best T20 figures - as Durham could only make 124 for 8 in reply.

Northants realised there was help for the spinners and used 12 overs of slow bowling to strangle Durham in a way the visitors managed to do themselves until Wakely helped strike 19 from the final over.

Cobb opened the bowling and sent down four overs for only 12, Graeme White's left-arm spin took 1 for 27 but it was Keogh who sealed victory with a fine spell.

He lured Alex Lees into swinging to long-on where Faheem Ashraf sprinted to his right, dived, and claimed a tremendous catch. Liam Trevaskis did likewise - this time the catch more comfortable - before Stuart Poynter reverse-swept to backward point.

Only Peter Handscomb kept Durham together with a 41-ball fifty. The required rate had leapt to 12 an over before he lifted Keogh over extra-cover for the first boundary for eight overs and swept another wide of midwicket. He then powered White over his head to raise a half-century but despite his unbeaten 65 in 54 balls it was too great an ask.

Durham's other Australian - D'Arcy Short - fell in the powerplay as the visitors made only 33 for 3. Scott Steel scooped Ashraf to short fine leg before the same bowler found Graham Clark's inside edge. Short then miscued a pull off Sanderson to mid-on and Northants had the early wickets they needed.

"I thought 160 might be a good score," said Wakely. "It wasn't the usual wicket we expect here: it was a bit sticky and a bit slow and it spun.

"But we defended brilliantly. We haven't always scrapped very well in the past few years but we fielded superbly and took our catches well."

The effort in the field proved Wakely's innings to be match-winning knock as he clawed Northants to 145 for 6.

The visitors' spinners were also very effective. Left-armer Liam Trevaskis opened the bowling and his four overs went for only 16 and D'Arcy Short's four claimed 1 for 27.

Northants again lost wickets in the Powerplay as Adam Rossington slapped Brydon Carse to cover-point before Josh Cobb pulled Matty Potts to deep-square. Keogh, promoted to number four to provide some stability, could only make 16 before he dragged Short into his stumps trying to pull.

Richard Levi finally made his seasonal T20 bow having recovered from a neck injury. He punched Carse for his first boundary over cover, flicked Potts backward of square and viciously pulled Nathan Rimmington. But having made a run-a-ball 29, slog-swept Steel to deep midwicket where Short claimed the catch, threw the ball in the air as he tumbled over the boundary, before stepping back into play and completing the dismissal. It left Northants 67 for 4 after 11 overs.

Dwaine Pretorius provided some impetus. He was twice dropped at deep midwicket - the second miss went for the night's first six - and he took advantage to drive Rimmington inside long-off and guide another boundary past short-third man in the 17th over. But the third catch he offered to deep midwicket was finally held and he fell for 37 from 24 balls. Potts then took another wicket in the 18th over as Matt Coles lifted his second ball to long-on.

Wakely worked the bowling around to help cobble something together for Northants and his final over burst took the momentum into the second innings. He lifted Potts for a huge six over midwicket before driving to long-off where the fielder missed the ball and flicked the final delivery wide of long-on.

Wakely's unbeaten 47 in 35 balls nudged the asking rate over seven, and it proved a crucial innings.

Gloucestershire 131 for 5 beat Kent 125 for 8 (Bell-Drummond 62) by five wickets

Kent Spitfires suffered a jolt to their previously excellent Vitality Blast South Group campaign with a five-wicket defeat by Gloucestershire at the Bristol County Ground.

The visitors could post only 125 for 8 after losing the toss on a slow pitch, Daniel Bell-Drummond contributing almost half the runs with 62. There were two wickets each for David Payne, Chris Liddle and Andrew Tye.

In reply, Gloucestershire reached 131 for 5, winning with 7 balls to spare, Jack Taylor and Benny Howell seeing them home. Fred Klaassen claimed 2 for 15 and Hardus Viljoen 2 for 30.

"It was an important toss to win because Kent didn't know what a good score would be on that pitch and 125 wasn't enough," said Howell.

"It was tough to hit through the line on that wicket, but we knew that if we kept the required run-rate under control, which wasn't too difficult, we could reach our target."

Kent scored only 33 from their six-over powerplay, losing Zak Crawley for a first-ball duck, caught at midwicket off the fifth delivery of the match from Payne and Ollie Robinson, who holed out to deep midwicket in the fourth over, bowled by Liddle.

Several other balls in the air just eluded fielders as the Spitfires batsmen, Bell-Drummond apart, failed to come to terms with deliveries sticking in the pitch.

Gloucestershire employed their familiar tactics of taking pace off the ball in the middle overs through Benny Howell's bag of tricks and the left-arm spin of Tom Smith. Together they ensured the halfway point was reached with Kent becalmed on 51 for two.

Heino Kuhn broke the shackles with a swept six off Smith. But when he attempted to hit Howell over wide long-on he only found the safe hands of Tye and departed for 23.

Mohammad Nabi, on three, was next to loft a catch, Michael Klinger brilliantly accepting the chance off Liddle, running away from the pitch as the skied ball came over his shoulder at midwicket.

Gloucestershire's excellent fielding continued when Jack Taylor ran out Alex Blake for two with a direct hit sprinting in from deep cover as the batsmen attempted a second run.

Only Bell-Drummond showed the necessary degree of patience, moving to 50 off 48 balls, with four fours. But wickets continued to tumble at the other end and when he fell to Tye in the final over the Spitfires' total looked well below par.

Soon Gloucestershire's batsmen were having their own problems with the pitch, Miles Hammond and Klinger, who could make only five, falling attempting boundaries in the powerplay, which ended at 42 for 2.

There was no pressure to play big shots. But James Bracey perished to one, caught at cover for 22 off Nabi, who came on for the seventh over.

At 58 for 3 in the ninth over, Gloucestershire had to exercise a degree of caution. That became even more the case when Ian Cockbain, on 15, picked out cover with a mistimed shot off Fred Klaassen to make it 73 for four.

Ryan Higgins lofted only the game's second six over deep square off Hardus Viljoen and Taylor followed suit with a big hit over cow corner from Nabi's last ball, which saw him finish with one for 26.

Higgins then drove a catch to mid-off to give Viljoen his second wicket. But Kent simply did not have enough runs to defend and three Howell boundaries in succession off the 17th over, sent down by Milne, ended any doubt about the outcome.

Howell then ended the game with a six and claimed the man-of-the-match award.