Barcelona and Real Madrid have done battle for a number of signings over the years, and the latest instalment is here. Both clubs are keen to strengthen their respective B teams, and they have set their sights on the same player: Sergio Martinez.

Barcelona registered their interest in Martinez earlier in the month, and on that occasion, they were competing with Villarreal. They are now poised to face off against Real Madrid, who have also been working on strengthening their youth categories in recent months.

As per Diario AS, Barcelona and Real Madrid have both made offers to Racing de Santander for Martinez, who has lost prominence at the Segunda club in recent weeks. The idea of both is for a loan deal to be agreed with the inclusion of a buy option, although if necessary, they are prepared to secure a permanent deal outright.

Image via AS Biwenger

Who is Sergio Martinez?

Martinez, who is only 18 years of age, is seen as a great promise, but with Barcelona and Real Madrid calling, it may be difficult for Racing to keep him. He’s a midfielder that can operate as a 6, 8 or 10, and this versatility is one of the reasons why the Clasico clubs are prepared to go head-to-head.

There are less than 48 hours remaining until the winter transfer window closes, so time is running out for Barcelona and Real Madrid to reach an agreement with Racing. Whoever does so first would have the advantage in this particular battle, although talks with the player could also be decisive.

It remains to be seen whether Martinez ends up come Monday night. The fact that Castilla play in the league over Barca Atletic could mean that Real Madrid have the advantage, although Barcelona’s record with promoting younger players into the first team could mean that they are more favourable.

For the second straight year, the Detroit Lions will send six players to the 2026 Pro Bowl Games, which will be held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Feb. 3. Coverage of the annual event will begin on ESPN at 6:30 p.m. ET, with the flag game at 8 p.m. ET.

As the NFL’s top talents assemble in the Bay Area this weekend, let’s meet the six Lions representatives:

Jack Campbell- Linebacker

After a breakout campaign in his third NFL season out of Iowa, Campbell earned his first Pro Bowl selection and first All-Pro honor.

The former Hawkeye star led the Lions with 176 tackles (89 solo, 87 assisted), which is the second-most in the league behind Miami’s Jordyn Brooks. Campbell also recorded 5 sacks, 4 passes defended, 3 forced fumbles, and 2 fumble recoveries.

Campbell is also the first Lions linebacker to be selected to the Pro Bowl since Stephen Boyd’s distinction in 2000.

Jahmyr Gibbs – Running Back

Appearing in his third Pro Bowl in his third season, Gibbs joins Barry Sanders and Billy Sims as the only running backs in team history to earn at least three Pro Bowl berths in the Super Bowl era.

This season, the former Crimson Tide icon ranked seventh league-wide in total yards, with 1,223 yards on 243 carries and 13 touchdowns, while catching 77 passes for 616 yards and five touchdowns.

Jared Goff- Quarterback

Replacing Seattle’s Super Bowl-bound quarterback Sam Darnold, the 2025 Pro Bowl Games Offensive MVP will make his fifth Pro Bowl appearance.

Goff completed 393-of-578 passes to finish second league-wide in yards (4,564) and touchdowns (34).

Despite operating under a new offensive coordinator this season, he became the sixth quarterback in NFL history to produce 4,000 passing yards and 30 touchdowns in three consecutive campaigns.

Aidan Hutchinson – EDGE

Hutchinson earned the second Pro Bowl selection of his career after setting career highs in sacks, tackles, and forced fumbles, finishing with 14.5 sacks, 54 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 4 forced fumbles, 3 passes defended, and 1 interception.

Hutchinson also led the league with 100 pressures, and his 91.9 overall grade from PFF ranked fourth among edge rushers. He became the first player in franchise history to log multiple 10.0-sack seasons through the first four years of his career.

In addition to the Pro Bowl nod, Hutchinson was named a finalist for the 2025 Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year and 2025 Defensive Player of the Year.

Penei Sewell – Offensive Lineman

Appearing in his fourth straight Pro Bowl in his five-year career, Penei Sewell will once again compete in the NFL’s premier all-star event.

His 95.2 overall grade and 96.8 run-block grade from PFF led all offensive linemen this season, which stems from the former Oregon star allowing just one sack and six quarterback hits this year.

Sewell was named a finalist for the NFL’s inaugural Protector of the Year Award in 2025 and joins Lou Creekmur and Lomas Brown as the only Lions tackles to earn at least four Pro Bowl berths in their career.

Amon-Ra St. Brown – Wide Receiver

St. Brown, who has positioned himself amongst the NFL’s elite wide receivers, earned his fourth straight Pro Bowl selection after recording 117 receptions for 1,401 yards and 11 touchdowns this season.

This past season, the USC product became the fourth player in NFL history to top 100 receptions and 10 touchdown receptions in three consecutive seasons.

St. Brown now joins Calvin Johnson and Herman Moore as the only wide receivers in team history to earn at least four Pro Bowl berths.

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This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Which Detroit Lions are participating in the 2026 Pro Bowl?

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Ehis Etute scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for Oregon in a 68-61 win over No. 16 Maryland on Saturday night.

Etute shot 10 of 15 from the field and 6 of 8 from the line. Sofia Bell added 16 points, hitting four 3-pointers.

The Ducks (17-7, 5-6 Big Ten) pulled ahead off an 11-0 run with 2:39 remaining. Addi Mack made a layup and made two free throws to get Maryland within two with 27 seconds remaining but Oregon made 5 of 6 free throws to seal the win.

The Terrapins (17-6, 5-6) finished the first half with a 14-0 run to lead 36-30. Oluchi Okananwa was 11-of-17 shooting and scored 27 points, 23 in the first half. Mack added 17. The loss is Maryland’s fourth straight.

Up next

Oregon: Hosts Illinois on Wednesday.

Maryland: Visits No. 13 Michigan State on Wednesday.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani won’t pitch for Japan in the World Baseball Classic in March, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Saturday.

Roberts said it was Ohtani’s decision to focus solely on being the designated hitter for his native country.

He said the team “absolutely” would have supported Ohtani if he had wanted to also pitch. Ohtani’s teammate and World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto will pitch for Japan in the WBC despite his heavy workload with the Dodgers last season.

“Yoshi feels he wants to take it on and feels good, and we support him,” Roberts said at the team’s fan fest.

Ohtani made two starts for Japan in the 2023 WBC and then came out of the bullpen in the ninth inning to clinch the championship by striking out then-Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout for the final out against the United States.

Ohtani tore his ulnar collateral ligament in August that year and later underwent elbow surgery, which kept him from pitching during his first season with the Dodgers in 2024, when he was their full-time designated hitter.

He gradually returned to pitching last year and made four postseason starts during the Dodgers’ run to their second straight World Series championship.

Ohtani didn’t confirm his decision not to pitch in the WBC when speaking with reporters before Roberts. The four-time MVP said through a translator that he had to “see how my body feels, feel the progression and see what happens.”

The 31-year-old Ohtani said he’s had a normal offseason because he hasn’t been rehabbing from injury.

“I’m very healthy,” he said. “Glad that I am.”

Roberts said he won’t manage Ohtani any differently now that he’s going to pitch a full season. He said there will be ample rest days in between starts and Ohtani won’t be scheduled for any more two or three-inning starts.

Ohtani, Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki were teammates on Japan’s WBC title team in 2023. But Sasaki won’t be pitching this time, coming off a rookie season filled with ups and downs that ended with him pitching out of the bullpen for the Dodgers.

The WBC runs from March 5-17.

Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said he won’t play for Canada in the WBC because of what he described as a personal reason.

“They’re very supportive,” he said. “I told them why I wasn’t going to be able to go out there and play in Puerto Rico and be that far from my family. I need to be close to California.”

Roberts is pondering his starting lineup ahead of the team reporting for spring training in Arizona on Feb. 13.

“I do feel great about having Shohei lead off. I do feel great about having Will (Smith) in the 5 (spot) and then after that, I’m going to kind of read and react,” he said. “You certainly see Mookie (Betts) in the 3 (spot).”

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PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) — Skye Belker and Olivia Hutcherson scored 20 points apiece, and No. 19 Princeton pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Cornell 72-61 on Saturday.

Princeton opened the final quarter on a 10-2 surge for a 58-48 advantage with 7:17 remaining. Ashley Chea’s 3-pointer later stretched the Tigers’ advantage to 65-53 with 4:44 to play. Belker made a 3-pointer and scored eight points in the fourth quarter, and Hutcherson chipped in with two layups.

Chea finished with 11 points for Princeton (18-2, 6-1 Ivy League), which rebounded from a 73-67 loss to Columbia on Friday that ended the Tigers’ 15-game win streak.

Rachel Kaus scored 20 points, and Emily Pape added 14 for Cornell (8-12, 3-4). Clarke Jackson scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Princeton shot 51% (29 of 57) overall and hit 43% (9 of 21) from 3-point range, while Cornell shot 52% (25 of 48) and 44% (7 of 16) from distance, but the Tigers scored 19 points off 13 Big Red turnovers. Princeton had just five turnovers.

Up next

Cornell: hosts Columbia on Saturday.

Princeton: at home against Pennsylvania on Friday.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The latest collection of government files released on Jeffrey Epstein include emails from 2003 between Casey Wasserman, the head of the Los Angeles Olympics organizing committee, and Epstein’s one-time girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Among the exchanges included Wasserman telling Maxwell “I think of you all the time. So, what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?”

There is also an email exchange about massages and one in which Maxwell asks whether it will be foggy enough during an upcoming visit “so that you can float naked down the beach and no one can see you unless they are close up?”

Wasserman responds, “or something like that.”

In a statement released Saturday, Wasserman said “I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell,” which he said occurred “long before her horrific crimes came to light.”

“I never had a personal or business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. As is well documented, I went on a humanitarian trip as part of a delegation with the Clinton Foundation in 2002 on the Epstein plane. I am terribly sorry for having any association with either of them,” he said.

In 2021, Maxwell was convicted on five counts of sex trafficking and abuse of minors. She is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

The documents were disclosed as mandated by a law passed requiring the government to open its files on the late financier and his confidant and onetime girlfriend, Maxwell. Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex-trafficking charges.

Wasserman built a sports and talent agency that represents top players in football, basketball and baseball, along with big-name actors such as Adam Sandler and Brad Pitt.

He has grabbed more headlines recently as the frontman for the LA Olympic effort; his lobbying played a big role in bringing the Summer Olympics back to the U.S. in 2028. Los Angeles previously hosted in 1984 and this will be the first Summer Games in the United States since Atlanta in 1996.

In 2021, Wasserman divorced his wife of 20 years, Laura Ziffren Wasserman.

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CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — John Camden scored a season-high 26 points and little-used Dhiaukuei Manyiel Dut had a critical block and followed that with his only basket of the game to send California to an 86-85 win over Miami on Saturday.

Justin Pippen added 17 points and eight assists. Chris Bell had 16 and Dai Dai Ames 14 for the Golden Bears (16-6, 4-5 ACC).

Malik Reneau scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half, Shelton Henderson added 16, Tre Donaldson 14 and Ernest Udeh Jr. and Dante Allen 12 each for the Hurricanes (17-5, 6-3).

The 7-foot Manyiel Dut had played a total of 26 minutes in seven games this season but was on the floor in crunch time after Cal’s other big men fouled out. He blocked Udeh’s layup and the ball, after a review reversal, went to Cal with 1:12 remaining. Fifteen seconds later he scored the game’s final points on a follow.

Donaldson then had his layup rim out but Nolan Dorsey missed two free throws to give the Hurricanes a final chance. Henderson took the ball to the hoop but missed as time expired.

The teams combined for 65 free throws separated by only one attempt. Miami shot 57% while Cal shot 49%, though it made 10 of 23 3-pointers.

The Hurricanes had the game’s largest lead of 11 with under nine minutes left.

The Hurricanes trailed 45-44 after a 9-2 run to end the half, capped by Allen’s 3-pointer.

Miami’s Tru Washington, who started 19 games and is averaging almost 12 points per game, was out for personal reasons.

Up next

Cal is home against Georgia Tech on Wednesday.

Miami is at Boston College next Saturday.

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We’re officially one sleep away from entering into February, which means that spring training will be here before you know it. Excited yet? I know, it’s just spring training but that’s one step closer to the regular season so every little bit needs to be celebrated at this point, right?

Anyways, I hope y’all are staying safe and warm out there. Here’s a random clip: