Manchester United gave up their pursuit of Matthijs de Ligt before Ajax's run to the Champions League semifinals because of concerns about his weight, sources have told ESPN FC.

The 19-year-old defender is wanted by Barcelona this summer after helping the Dutch giants to the brink of a first Champions League final since 1996 before Tottenham's stunning comeback on Wednesday night.

Even before this season, De Ligt was one of the most highly-rated young players in Europe and was discussed as a possible target by United.

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However, sources have told ESPN FC that prominent members of the recruitment team voiced worries that De Ligt, who lined up against United in the 2017 Europa League final, was vulnerable to gaining weight because of concerns about his family history, leading the club to ditch their pursuit.

While United have retained their interest, Barcelona are leading the chase for De Ligt after Ajax CEO Edwin van der Sar confirmed the teenager is likely to leave this summer.

United, meanwhile, are looking to bolster their defence with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer considering swoops for a full-back and a centre-back.

Luke Shaw, United's newly-crowned Player of the Year, has nailed down his place at left-back but Solskjaer could look for a new right-back before next season.

Club captain Antonio Valencia is set to leave Old Trafford after Sunday's final game against, Cardiff leaving Solskjaer with just 33-year-old Ashley Young and 20-year-old Diogo Dalot.

Leicester's Harry Maguire and Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly lead the list of centre-back targets.

The first priority for New Zealand coach Gary Stead ahead of the World Cup is that his players returning from the IPL spend some quality time with their families before embarking on the trip to the UK, as they attempt to win the title for the first time after the near miss in 2015.

Only five of New Zealand's World Cup 15 were in Brisbane for the unofficial three-match series against Australia over the last week, which the home side took 2-1 with a DLS victory in the decider. However, the shadow New Zealand side fared very well, almost conjuring a victory in the opening match, which Australia squeaked by one wicket, then chasing 278 comfortably in the second. Will Young was the standout performer of the trip.

The nine IPL-based players are currently making their way home as their tournaments end (Ross Taylor, playing for Middlesex, will meet the squad in England) and they have been given a few days of downtime before the party departs Auckland later in the week. Stead believes this is a very important few days before the intensity and scrutiny of a World Cup, but is also eager to try and keep everything as normal as possible during the tournament.

ALSO READ: Things we learned from Brisbane

"Between now and then some of our players need four or five days at home just to freshen up and see their families, feeling good about their wellbeing," Stead said. "Going to the IPL for seven or eight weeks can be tough work so reconnection with some of the families is the first thing I want to see. Then when we get over it's as intense as we want to make it.

"There's no doubt the World Cup is a massive carrot but I'm sure every team goes in with the same goals so there's no point overplaying it. In my view, all we can do is prepare as consistently as we can against every team then just play well. If you get too worried about end results you can make mistakes. We try at all times not to get too wrapped up in the result."

New Zealand coaches have become used to dealing with the clash of the IPL with demands for tournament or series preparation, with the long-standing agreement their players can make the most of the opportunity in India if selected. Stead remains relaxed about the situation although he did acknowledge that there has been a lack of game time. The most matches played by a New Zealander has been Kane Williamson's nine, with Martin Guptill and Tim Southee getting just three outings and Ish Sodhi two.

"It's disappointing some haven't played a little more cricket but that's out of my control and it's out of their control at times as well," he said. "They are professionals and have played a lot of international cricket, they know how to get themselves up. It won't take them long.

"I have 100% trust in the players over there and the coaching staff. We've looked at programs for each of our players, so I don't have a problem with that at all. I don't complain about that, I just know that's the case and we move on."

ALSO READ: Shoulder surgery likely to rule Will Young out for rest of the year

In terms of the time in Brisbane, Stead marked it down as a "fantastic experience" for those trying to push their claims for higher honours. Young, who now faces an extended period on sidelines due to shoulder surgery, put his name up in lights with 301 runs in three innings including back-to-back centuries.

"There are some up-and-coming youngsters in the group who will really grow from this experience and understand more what international cricket is about," he said. "That's part of what we've really got out of the week, the ability for us to test and see players, in some cases who are around the A team, for them to get some experience against guys like this will be invaluable. If you talk about Will Young, I thought his composure against Starc and the like was outstanding. He showed the ability to play off both feet to pace and spin."

Henry Nicholls, one of the five players in the World Cup squad on trip, sat out the last two matches after picking up a minor hamstring injury in the opening outing. Stead confirmed the move was largely precautionary and the recovery time was expected to be around five days with no concern about him heading into the tournament.

When New Zealand arrive in the UK they have warm-up matches against India and West Indies before their first pool match against Sri Lanka on June 1 in Cardiff.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Kyler Murray's long-awaited NFL debut finally arrived Friday afternoon when he took the field for the first day of the Arizona Cardinals' rookie minicamp. But Murray didn't have the right cleats.

The reigning Heisman Trophy winner limped to the podium for his post-practice news conference after practicing in cleats that weren't broken in. The cleats Murray wanted had not been delivered to the Cardinals' practice facility by the time he took the field.

"My feet hurt a little bit," Murray said. "It's been a long time since I put cleats on. I've been running around. The cleats were pretty new."

Coach Kliff Kingsbury wasn't concerned about his prized rookie's feet and said the team will try to get the right cleats delivered by Saturday's practice. Other than his feet being sore, Murray said he felt "pretty good" after taking the field for a practice for the first time since preparing for the Orange Bowl in December.

"It was good finally touching the field again," Murray said. "A lot of this process has been just a lot of talk and evaluation and stuff like that. Just to actually be able to play football again, get out here with the guys and do what you love, it was fun."

Friday was a long time coming for both Kingsbury and Murray. Kingsbury recruited Murray as a sophomore in high school when Murray was 15. Seven years later, Kingsbury finally had a chance to coach the quarterback he's long coveted.

But Kingsbury was tempered in his initial evaluation of Murray's first practice, describing the rookie's performance as "not bad."

"It was fun," Kingsbury said. "We have a good relationship and he knows I'm going to do everything in my power to help him be the best player he can be. That's what he wants. He wants to be pushed."

Murray felt the connection on the field after just one practice. Kingsbury spent most of the practice with Murray "trying to get him comfortable." And it worked. Murray said he was "surprisingly comfortable" with the offense and the on-field communication.

"It was great," Murray said. "Obviously, it's only been Day 1, but I can already feel the rhythm going. Hopefully we can keep this thing going and do something good, do something great."

Murray's familiarity with Kingsbury's Air Raid system, which Murray ran pieces of at Oklahoma, helped him adjust quickly Friday, Kingsbury said.

"He can really throw it," Kingsbury said. "He's got a presence about himself. I liked how he operated."

Murray self-evaluated his practice with two words: "All right." But, the rookie pointed out, one practice wasn't enough to develop a familiarity with his receivers.

"It was a good day overall," Murray said. "But it's Day 1. You're not comfortable with everybody's routes. You don't know how they run certain stuff and stuff like that. With time, that'll obviously get better. We'll mesh up better. I thought it was a good first day."

Murray took the field a day after signing his rookie contract, a standard four-year deal with a fifth-year team option worth $35 million that includes a signing bonus worth roughly $23.5 million.

"It was a great feeling," Murray said. "For me, it was just kind of like another day. You get drafted and you already feel like you have it but you don't. And then you sign and you still don't have it. It's obviously a great day for me and my family and a start of something special."

The Denver Nuggets and Portland Trail Blazers will be at full strength for Game 7 after the NBA did not levy any suspensions or fines from a fourth-quarter skirmish between both teams in Game 6 of their Western Conference semifinal series.

The NBA confirmed Denver's Will Barton and Torrey Craig and Portland's Seth Curry and Zach Collins will not face any further discipline after a fourth-quarter incident resulted in shoving and those four players being given technical fouls.

The NBA's decision was first reported by Yahoo Sports.

Following an offensive foul on Denver's Nikola Jokic, Collins fell toward Barton's knees with 6:16 remaining in Thursday's Game 6. Barton said he was trying to avoid getting injured when Curry nudged Barton away as he went to help Collins up.

Barton shoved Curry back, and as the two were being separated, Barton appeared to point and poke Curry in the eye. Collins and Craig then joined the scuffle and all four players were assessed offsetting technical fouls.

"He waited for a few people to get in between us, and when a few people were in between us, he put his finger in my eye," said Curry, who took exception to Barton's finger in his face. "You know what I'm saying. I can't allow people to put their fingers in my eye.

"That's real sassy. They got a few sassy dudes over there. Front-runners. And we can't allow that."

Curry said he was surprised that Barton did not get ejected.

The Nuggets and Blazers will settle their best-of-seven series, which is tied at 3-3, on Sunday in Denver. Nuggets coach Michael Malone had hoped that both teams would be able to play the decisive game at full strength and he got his wish.

"It's competitive playoff basketball," Barton said of the tempers flaring in Game 6. "Some things are going to happen. If we are all out there just being friendly, it ain't going to look like nobody trying to win."

LOS ANGELES -- The organizer of a protest over the state of the Los Angeles Lakers says the issues with the team boil down to one thing: decision-making on a front-office level.

Charlie Rivers, a 22-year-old Arizona college student who says he drove from the Phoenix area to take part in the protest he launched this week on social media, said Friday he was happy with the results of his efforts.

"I think I already got it -- media coverage, have the talking heads speak about it, analysts talk about the inept decision-making by the front office, basketball operations needing a change up there," Rivers said. "I don't mean it to be a personal attack on [owner] Jeanie Buss or anything like that. I just don't agree with their decision-making on a front-office level.

"Nepotism shouldn't be involved when it comes to decision-making."

The Lakers had no comment on the protest.

Fans numbering 35 to 40 drew an even larger group of media and onlookers Friday outside the main entrance of Staples Center. Chants rang out as several fans held protest signs. But looks of anger and concern common with many protests were absent, replaced mostly with laughing smiles of content.

Rivers, born and raised in Anaheim, California, said he was a lifelong Lakers fan who moved to Arizona with his family in 2008.

"I'm just like anybody else -- I just have my opinion," said Rivers, who used the social media site Reddit to organize the protest. "I don't feel any different than anyone. But I feel that my opinion picked up steam and people resonated with it. Somebody said, 'If you feel so strongly about this, why don't you start a protest?' So I did."

The message of one of the signs held as "No more Rambis!" chants rang out was clear: Jeanie Buss plus general manager Rob Pelinka equals an image of LeBron James -- with his eyes shut.

"This is based solely on the front office and their decision-making," Rivers said. "I understand LeBron is only going to be here three to four years. That's fine. When he's up there in age, that's all right. This is more so about the direction the organization's been taking ever since Dr. Buss passed away. Whether it's Jim Buss, Jeanie Buss -- things have been toxic, and I feel like people around Jeanie don't have her best interest at heart and they're making political moves to keep themselves on the job. And ultimately that's going to hinder the effectiveness of the organization."

The protest unfolded as the Lakers were reportedly set to interview their sixth head-coaching candidate since firing Luke Walton a month ago. Former Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel was flying to Los Angeles on Thursday for the interview, league sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

It also came a day after Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, in an impromptu interview with TMZ, called the city "a Clippers town."

"Right now, it's a Clippers town," Garcetti said. "I'm Lakers 'til the day I die. But I love [the] Clippers. I don't hate 'em."

Superfan "Cipper Darrell" appeared in front of Staples Center as the protest continued, drawing his own crowd.

He told some of those gathered that there was little reason for Lakers fans to hold hope.

"With social media now, players don't have to come to Los Angeles," he said.

There might not be enough superlatives to describe Stephen Curry's performance in the second half of the Golden State Warriors' win over the Houston Rockets in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals. After going scoreless in the first half, Curry poured in 33 points in the game's final 24 minutes -- 23 of which came in the fourth quarter, as the Warriors ended the Rockets' season for the fourth time in five years.

Curry's outstanding performance earned praise from NBA players watching at home, starting with one of his biggest postseason rivals, who -- intentionally or not -- invoked the words of a Rockets legend to describe Curry's effort.

NEVER underestimate the heart of a Champion‼️‼️

— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 11, 2019

Steph had 33 in the second half ?? that's silly lol

— Larry Nance Jr (@Larrydn22) May 11, 2019

Apology accepted. Y'all gon put some respect on that man name https://t.co/Zv902PMkym

— Baze (@24Bazemore) May 11, 2019

Steph had 33 in the second half ?

— Jaron Blossomgame (@JaronBgame) May 11, 2019

True but I didn't think he would get it! MVP behavior tonight! https://t.co/51Ln8uRrTG

— Jared Dudley (@JaredDudley619) May 11, 2019

Meanwhile David West, who won titles with Curry and the Warriors in 2017 and 2018, shared this message, which might've been a shot at both Curry's critics -- who were particularly vocal after Game 5 -- and Rockets GM Daryl Morey.

Stop letting nerds tell you how to play basketball....

— David West (@D_West30) May 11, 2019

Minnesota Twins third baseman Marwin Gonzalez left Friday night's game against the Detroit Tigers with a facial contusion after a scary-looking collision at first base in the bottom of the sixth inning in Minneapolis.

Gonzalez hit a comebacker off the leg of Tigers starter Tyson Ross, who fielded the ricochet and threw high to first baseman Niko Goodrum. Goodrum jumped for the ball but hit Gonzalez in the head with his right knee.

Gonzalez, 30, immediately went down to the ground and remained there before eventually gathering himself and leaving the game with the assistance of Twins athletic trainers.

He finished 1-for-2 with a run scored, and the Twins won 6-0.

Goodrum also left with what the Tigers later said was a right knee contusion. He finished 0-for-3.

Travis d'Arnaud's tenure with the Los Angeles Dodgers is over after one pinch-hit appearance.

The former New York Mets catcher who signed with the Dodgers on Sunday has been traded to the Tampa Bay Rays for $100,000, the teams announced Friday.

The Dodgers signed d'Arnaud to a one-year deal on Sunday and anticipated using him as a backup catcher and first baseman. But the Rays, dealing with injuries to Mike Zunino and Michael Perez, were in the market for a catcher who could help out now. Zunino went on the injured list with a quad injury on Friday and is expected to miss four to five weeks.

D'Arnaud is a lifetime .242 hitter, with 47 home runs and 164 RBIs over seven seasons with the Mets.

D'Arnaud, 30, was sidelined for most of last season following Tommy John surgery in April 2018. He was activated April 7 and was expected to be the Mets backup, but he went 2-for-23 before being designated for assignment on April 28. The Mets are on the hook for most of his $3.5 million salary.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The fan who caught the ball on Albert Pujols' 2,000th career RBI said Friday that he had changed his mind and would not be keeping the souvenir.

Pujols became only the third player in Major League Baseball history to drive in 2,000 or more runs in a career, joining Alex Rodriguez (2,086) and Hank Aaron (2,297), with a solo home run in the Los Angeles Angels' win over the Detroit Tigers on Thursday at Comerica Park.

The fan, Ely Hydes, said Thursday that he had decided to keep the ball. However, he reversed course and told The Detroit News on Friday night that he will give the ball -- the first he caught at a major league game -- to Pujols or the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

"I slept on it," Hydes told The Detroit News. "All I ever wanted was to sleep on it. I slept on it and I woke up and I think [Pujols] is a class act.

"He's not my player, he's not my guy, I don't deserve the ball."

Hydes told the newspaper that he doesn't want any money for the ball, which can't be authenticated by Major League Baseball, and that he made his initial decision because of pressure from the Tigers' staff to hand it over. The Tigers disputed that, saying the staff "conducted themselves in a professional manner," according to The Detroit News.

Pujols had told reporters Thursday that he wasn't upset that Hydes kept the ball.

"He can keep it," Pujols said. "It's a great memory for him. I mean we play this game for the fans, and it's a piece of history that he's going to have for the rest of his life."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

BALTIMORE -- Mike Trout called his shot. Kind of.

Ninety minutes before Friday night's series opener against the Baltimore Orioles, 7-year-old superfan Gavin Edelson asked his favorite player to hit a homer for him. Trout, who had gone deep just once in his previous 17 games, responded by telling the youngster, "I need to hit a home run tonight." Then the Los Angeles Angels' center fielder went out and went yard.

In the top of the third inning, Trout sent a 3-2 fastball from O's starter Dan Straily over the wall in left-center. The towering shot, which had a launch angle of 38 degrees and didn't clear the fence by much, looked as though it might be caught by Baltimore center fielder Stevie Wilkerson, who leaped at the wall in an effort to rob Trout.

"I thought it was going to hit off the wall," said Gavin, who was sitting with his family five rows behind the Angels' dugout. "I was so happy that he hit it."

Trout's relationship with Gavin dates back to last summer, when the Angels visited Camden Yards for a three-game set. Prior to the opener of that series, during batting practice, the two-time MVP noticed the elementary schooler wearing his No. 27 jersey and holding a giant "Mike Trout is my idol" sign. Trout called Gavin over and spent most of batting practice chatting with him. When the session was over, Trout signed the bat he'd been using and gave it to the youngster.

On Friday, nearly a year later, batting practice was canceled due to a steady afternoon rain in Baltimore. But with the help of some Angels staffers, Gavin and his family managed to find their way into the tunnel near the visitors' clubhouse, where they encountered Trout returning from the indoor batting cage at Camden Yards.

Gavin, once again wearing one of his trademark "Troutfits," gave his idol a handwritten letter that started with "Dear Mike Trout, You're my favrit player ever" and ended with "I hope to be just like you." Attached to the letter was an imitation baseball card that featured a photo of Trout and Gavin from their meeting last summer. After spending three minutes talking to the Edelsons, Trout headed back into the Angels' clubhouse, but not before giving his bat to Gavin, and his batting gloves to 11-year-old brother Jacob.

Prior to hitting his eighth home run of the season, Trout struck out swinging against Straily in the first inning. In the fifth, he drilled an RBI double to left-center, and then came around to score on a single by Andrelton Simmons.