Arsenal could step up their interest in Martin Odegaard after Real Madrid indicated they are willing to sell the midfielder for a lower fee than first thought, sources have told ESPN.

Odegaard spent the second half of last season on loan at Arsenal and would be open to a return to the Premier League.

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The 22-year-old has been left out of Madrid's squad for their opening LaLiga game against Alaves and have indicated they are prepared to do business for a fee in the region of €45 million.

Arsenal are expected to explore the possibility of a deal having been in the market for a creative midfielder all summer.

They have already sounded out Lyon over Houssem Aouar and Leicester regarding James Maddison, partly in the belief Madrid would not allow Odegaard to return to north London this season.

Madrid subsequently indicated they were willing to listen to offers for Odegaard north of €60m but sources claim the club have now softened their stance.

Sources added that Arsenal informed intermediaries they would need to sell a midfielder before strengthening that area of the team.

Joe Willock is expected to complete a £25m move to Newcastle in the next 24 hours, freeing up space and adding funds for Arsenal to pursue one of their targets.

Manager Mikel Arteta hinted at a news conference on Thursday that they were still looking to make further additions after the arrivals of Ben White, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Nuno Tavares.

"The club, the owners and myself, we all have the same interests, which is to make this team much stronger and we know that we still have things to do to get what we want," he said.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said Raphael Varane will not be able to make his Manchester United debut this weekend because his move from Real Madrid is not yet complete.

United announced they had agreed a £34 million deal with Real Madrid for the defender on July 27 but 17 days later are yet to formally announce his arrival.

Varane is in Manchester after spending time in isolation but, according to Solskjaer, he has not been able to train with his new teammates.

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United face Leeds United at Old Trafford on Saturday to start their Premier League campaign.

The deadline to register players with the Premier League for the opening round of fixtures passed at 12 p.m. (7 a.m. ET) on Friday.

"He has not trained with us," Solskjaer told a news conference on Friday. "Things happen and things take time and unfortunately the isolation has delayed these things. It's not 100% done and I can say he probably won't be [available against Leeds] because he has not trained with us.

"It always happens that there are little things. The big hold up was the isolation and quarantine. He has been in Manchester now and hopefully it'll be done soon."

Solskjaer had better news about Jadon Sancho, with the England winger expected to be in the squad to face Leeds following his summer move from Borussia Dortmund.

Sancho did not take part in the training camp in St. Andrews but returned to training on Monday.

"Jadon is going to be involved, definitely," Solskjaer said.

"He has had a good week. Unfortunately he was ill after his holiday and we lost out on a few days of training with him but he has gelled really well with the group and he is looked sharper than I expected. I can't tell you if he will start."

Bruno Fernandes has said he is excited about United's new summer signings but that it can't all be on them to win the club trophies.

"All the players the club hires certainly have a lot to add to the squad, but we can't expect them to come in and change the whole club, or to be the ones responsible for making the team better," he told ESPN.

"We know these are two very high-level players and we expect a lot from them, but the pressure we put on them is the same pressure we put on those of us who are already here. Everyone has to be under the same pressure.

"The responsibility grows because we want trophies, and we know that by hiring players of this quality we are closer to achieving this. At the same time, we cannot leave all the responsibility rests on their shoulders, and if for some reason we fail to hit our goals, it is not only their responsibility but also on the whole team."

United lost their first game of last season against Crystal Palace and Solskjaer is keen for his team to make a faster start this time around.

Old Trafford will have a capacity crowd for the first time since March 2020 after COVID-19 restrictions were eased in the UK.

"We've had a good preseason and the last couple of weeks have been really good with everyone back in," he said. "We're still missing a few players through injury and COVID-19 but we're still confident.

"This club is about trophies, football and my expectations are we keep developing our style and play good football.

"Hopefully when we get to March, April and May and we are there or thereabouts. The team is hungry, we've done good business. I feel confident going into the new season but the first couple of games are an unknown."

Barcelona defender Sergino Dest has told ESPN that the club feels "weird" without Lionel Messi following his move to Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.

The United States international spent one season at Barca alongside Messi after joining from Ajax last season. Dest said he enjoyed his time with Barca legend, who is widely regarded as one of the best players in football history.

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"I was shocked a little bit because everyone wanted him to stay at the club," Dest said on the eve of the new LaLiga season, which will be live on ESPN+.

"He's the best player in the world. It was a shock for everyone -- we wish he could have stayed. Unfortunately, he couldn't.

"At the training ground and on the pitch, you see unbelievable things. You see how he scores those goals. What you see on the pitch is the same, even when you're that close. It's unbelievable to see him like that.

"We all have him in our hearts. It's Messi. It just feels weird because he played for so long at this club, almost his whole life, and suddenly he had to leave. But we have to focus on the new season.

"We've got some work to do because with Messi it is easier, he's the best player in the world. But I think if we play collectively and keep the chemistry high, we can achieve a lot."

Barca will play their first competitive match since Messi's departure when they kick off their 2021-22 LaLiga campaign against Real Sociedad on Sunday.

The Argentina international, 34, signed a two-year contract at PSG after he was told he could no longer stay at Barca due to the club's inability to meet LaLiga's wage restrictions.

Paris Saint-Germain coach Mauricio Pochettino says Lionel Messi will not make his club debut in Saturday's Ligue 1 game against Strasbourg.

Messi, 34, has had just two training sessions since joining PSG as a free agent on Wednesday after Barcelona were unable to complete his new contract. He won 10 LaLiga titles and four Champions League trophies during a 17-year long stint at Barcelona.

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The Argentina captain will be presented along with the other summer signings to the fans at the Parc des Princes on Saturday ahead of the encounter but will not play.

Asked when Messi, who last played in a 1-0 victory over Brazil in the Copa America final on July 10, will make his debut, Pochettino said on Friday: "We have to take it one step at a time. The priority is that he feels well. A month ago, he played the Copa America final and he has to make his debut in the best conditions. But I've seen a very matured Messi, the player we all know. What I see is a Messi that is happy and with incredible energy."

Messi admitted he did not know when his first game with PSG will be.

While PSG now boast arguably the world's best side in terms of talent with Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe among their stars, Pochettino, is not getting carried away.

"We are not a team yet," he said. "We have a team with players that shine on their own and the tremendous challenge we face is to make with those names a good team. I face this challenge with a lot of enthusiasm and engery. We want to have a team not only for social media but one that covers the day-to-day demands.

"As a coach you always want to have that problem of creating a team with [surplus of] top players and take decisions, that is where we are here for."

Pochettino, meanwhile, has brushed aside rumours of Mbappe's possible departure.

The France international has been a long-term target of Real Madrid.

Mbappe has not signed a new deal with PSG, with his current contract ending next summer, and Messi's arrival has increased speculation that the Frenchman could leave.

"Kylian is our player and will continue to be," Pochettino said.

PSG confirmed on Friday that veteran defender Sergio Ramos will be out of action for four weeks.

The former Real Madrid captain, who joined PSG as a free agent this summer, sustained a calf injury in preseason training and will be unavailable until after the international break in September.

PSG surrendered the French league title to Lille last season and were eliminated in the Champions League semifinals by Manchester City despite boasting the likes of Neymar, Mbappe and Angel Di Maria in their ranks.

Adding Messi to the fold will have raised expectations among fans and the board at the Qatari-owned club, whose management have invested heavily in a bid to see the club win their maiden title in Europe's premier club competition.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said he is puzzled by Manchester United's transfer business this summer but not surprised by the spending power of Manchester City, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain.

United signed Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund for £73 million and have agreed a fee around £34m with Real Madrid to sign Raphael Varane.

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When asked about the spending of the club's rivals in a news conference ahead of Liverpool's Premier League opener against Norwich City on Saturday, Klopp replied: "We all know the situation of Chelsea and City and PSG.

"What United are doing, I don't know how they did it. We have our own way to do it. We are allowed to spend the money we earn, that we always did. This year we spent before we earned money with [Ibrahima] Konate because after last season, just to be clear, we cannot take any risk in this position at all.

"I'm never surprised about the financial power of Chelsea, City or United, I've been here long enough to know they always find a solution to these things."

City broke the British transfer record to sign Jack Grealish from Aston Villa for £100m and could spend more in their pursuit of Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane.

Chelsea broke their club record fee to sign Romelu Lukaku while PSG sealed a sensational move for Lionel Messi on a free transfer.

Klopp also praised Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk after he signed a new four-year contract at the club.

"It's great news. We are really happy that he is happy here," he added. "Imagine if we had to buy this boy now. Thankfully we only have to give him a new contract."

Konate has been the club's only summer signing and when asked if they needed to bring in another midfielder after Georginio Wijnaldum's departure, Klopp replied: "You tell me which player we need, I'm really interested.

"What type of player would you like to sign? Should he score more goals than Gini? Should he defend better than Fabinho? Be more creative than Naby [Keita], Curtis [Jones], Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and [Harvey] Elliott?"

Star center Joe Thornton has signed a one-year deal with the Florida Panthers for the 24th season of his legendary career.

Thornton, 42, will earn $750,000 on the deal, with no bonuses or incentives.

"I think he looked at our roster, and he saw a fit with us, like we saw a fit with him," Panthers general manager Bill Zito told ESPN.

Thornton is one of the most productive offensive centers in NHL history. He ranks 14th on the career points list with 1,529 and is five points away from being 12th overall. He is seventh in career assists with 1,104 in 1,680 games with the Boston Bruins, San Jose Sharks and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Thornton ended a 15-year run in San Jose with his stint in Toronto last season, playing 44 games and amassing five goals and 15 assists. While his 13 minutes, 43 seconds on average was the lowest ice time of his career, Thornton played up in the lineup with star Auston Matthews and down in the team's bottom six as well -- versatility that Zito cited as a reason for pursuing Thornton.

"His drive to succeed is unmistakable, and we are thrilled that he chose to sign with our club," Zito said.

Thornton has been practicing with HC Davos of the Swiss National League during the offseason.

He was a teammate of Panthers executive Roberto Luongo on the 2010 Canadian Olympic men's hockey team that won gold in Vancouver.

Prosecutors in Indianapolis have charged former Butler basketball player Carlos "Scooby" Johnson Jr. with felony rape and sexual battery for a Feb. 4 incident in a dormitory, according to court records.

A warrant was issued for Johnson's arrest on Thursday, according to Marion County court records.

Johnson, from Benton Harbor, Michigan, is no longer enrolled at Butler, the university said in a statement.

"The university takes these allegations very seriously and has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual misconduct, violence, and harassment, per our Sexual Misconduct Policy," the Butler athletic department said in a statement. "Our top priority is the safety of our students and campus community, and the university provides support and resources to all students. Out of respect to the students' federal privacy rights and the ongoing criminal process, the university is not at liberty to divulge additional information at this time."

Johnson is no longer listed on the team's roster on the athletic department's website. He did not play for the Bulldogs last season because of a torn ACL in his left knee. He was previously named "Mr. Basketball" for Division 2 in Michigan in 2020.

According to an affidavit obtained by the Indianapolis Star, a Butler police officer was dispatched to a dorm room at 2:07 a.m. on Feb. 4. The officer was told that a woman had been raped by a man known as "Scooby." When police went to Johnson's room, they said he told them, "I should have told that [b----] to leave," according to the affidavit.

The woman was given a rape kit at a local hospital. DNA analysis of blood found on Johnson's boxers matched the woman's, and there was also a mixture of Johnson's DNA and the woman's in another sample, according to the Star.