Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar has been ruled out of Wednesday's Champions League tie against Barcelona after failing to recover from a thigh problem in time.

Neymar, 29, has been sidelined since picking up the injury in the French Cup win over second division side Caen on Feb. 10.

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The Brazil international returned to light training a few days ago but PSG confirmed on Tuesday that this week's second leg against Barca in the round-of-16 of the Champions League comes too soon.

Neymar, who joined PSG from Barca for a world record €222 million fee in 2017, also missed the first leg at Camp Nou, when Kylian Mbappe scored a hat-trick as the French champions won 4-1.

"He's very sad," PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino said when Neymar was denied the chance to play against his former side last month.

"He was really looking forward to going to Barcelona. He loves Barcelona. He's a player who loves to play these games, he's made for them."

Sources have told ESPN that Pochettino considered adding him to the squad but didn't want to take any risks and Neymar agreed with the decision.

Neymar has regularly suffered injuries at this stage of the season, missing Champions League eliminations against Real Madrid and Manchester United in 2018 and 2019 respectively with fitness issues.

However, he was fit for the latter stages of last year's competition, helping PSG reach the final, where they were beaten 1-0 by Bayern Munich.

Information from ESPN's Julien Laurens has been included in this report.

Germany manager Joachim Low will step down from his post this summer after the European Championship, it was announced on Tuesday.

The 61-year-old, who was contracted through to 2022, will leave the German FA after 17 years with the national team and 15 years as the head coach. He has coached them for 189 games, having won 120 and lost 31.The news means Germany will require a new manager to take them through to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

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Low first joined the team in 2004 as assistant to Jurgen Klinsmann before taking over in 2006 and led them to the Euro 2008 final before winning the World Cup six years later.

"Joachim Low will vacate his position as the Bundestrainer after the 2021 European Championship," a statement on the DFB website read. "The Bundestrainer asked to cancel his contract, valid until 2022, immediately after the tournament. The DFB has agreed to it."

Low added: "I take this step very consciously, full of pride and enormous gratitude, but at the same time continue to be very motivated when it comes to the upcoming European Championship tournament.

"Proud, because it is something very special and an honour for me to be involved in my country. And because I have been able to work with the best footballers in the country for almost 17 years and support them in their development.

"I have great triumphs with them and painful defeats, but above all many wonderful and magical moments -- not just winning the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. I am and will remain grateful to the DFB, which has always provided me and the team with an ideal working environment."

An exciting semifinal run with big wins over England and Argentina at the 2010 World Cup were the first clear signs of Low's style that would conquer the world four years later.

Their 7-1 demolition of hosts Brazil in the semifinal of the 2014 tournament stunned the football world and was arguably the best performance by Low's team with its quick passing style that dismantled the Brazilian defence in a sensational first half.

Doubts over Low's future grew following a 6-0 defeat to Spain in the UEFA Nations League in November. They had begun following Germany's failure to recover from the 2018 World Cup exit at the group stages, a first for Low and his staff.

"I was able to work with the best players of the country for nearly 17 years and be part of their development," Low said and highlighted the "many wonderful and magic moments" he had with the team.

DFB president Fritz Keller said that Low's announcement now made it possible "to announce his successor with the requisite time, with calmness and with sound judgement."

Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp and Bayern Munich's Hansi Flick have been touted as potential successors in recent months, while Germany great Lothar Matthaus was suggested as an ideal fit for the position by former teammate Mehmet Scholl. Germany under-21 coach Stefan Kuntz has also been linked with the job in the past.

Asked about Klopp's chance of replacing Low, RB Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann told a news conference on Tuesday: "Klopp is, of course, an exceptional coach but I think Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp are content with their partnership, so I don't know if that's a good question for me. You should ask that to Jurgen."

Euro 2020 was postponed until 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, but the tournament kept it's original name. UEFA said last month the tournament would go ahead although doubts remain about which countries will host it.

Germany face France, Hungary and Poland in their Euro group matches in June.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

Breaking news: Manchester City are human after all! They can be beaten, as their bitter local rivals United proved with a 2-0 victory at the Etihad on Sunday. But does that mean Pep Guardiola's team drops out of the conversation about the Premier League's greatest-ever teams? Not necessarily. A Rolls Royce still runs like a dream even if it gets a scratch on the back door, doesn't it?

City's run of 21 successive wins and 28 games unbeaten in all competitions was astonishing, even if it was ended by a combination of their own sloppiness, some excellent United defending and some lethal counter-attacking play. The defeat was no fluke, but City remain a magnificent and expertly coached team -- and you certainly wouldn't want to be next to face them.

They have been fluent, graceful and dominant. They have hogged possession and had barely gave opponents a look-in... until Sunday. The fact that Guardiola has barely called upon the club's all-time top scorer, Sergio Aguero, opting to mostly use a "false No. 9" (and occasionally Gabriel Jesus) is just another reminder of the innovative mind of this obsessive, perfectionist coach.

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Yet their run was bound to end somewhere. By the law of averages, a day will come when things don't run the way of even the most accomplished teams. That is why Arsenal's unblemished 2003-04 season still stands as arguably the Premier League's No, 1 achievement. That side only totalled 90 points, winning 26 and drawing 12. By the closing stages of that season, the players knew that every opponent wanted to be the team to end their unbeaten run. Ultimately, none did.

One of those "Invincibles," Ray Parlour, said recently of their historic season: "I remember we were absolutely out on our feet. Every team that played us was treating it like a cup final. We went to Portsmouth, and we got battered. We should have lost 5-1, but somehow, we dredged up a draw. That's what top teams do."

Manchester United's treble-winning team of 1999 (Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League) is another to throw into the argument regarding the best Premier League squad of the modern era. That team had Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to call upon in attack, not to mention a great goalkeeper in Peter Schmeichel, and midfield masters like Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and David Beckham. Those illustrious names sprinkle an awful lot of stardust, but the fact is they won the title with a very modest 79 points, suggesting it was hardly a vintage edition. Of course, there were other fine United teams among Sir Alex Ferguson's 13 title winners, especially when the maverick brilliance of Eric Cantona was on show.

Jose Mourinho's first Chelsea team in 2004-05 was built on a wonderful defence constructed around John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho, but people tend to forget that outfit also had the flair of flying wingers Arjen Robben and Damien Duff, along with a finisher like Didier Drogba. They took a lot of beating and also belong in any conversation about the "best ever."

Former Manchester United player turned TV pundit Gary Neville always identifies the Arsenal team of 1998 as the hardest he played against: "They could beat you a lot of ways. They had the talent of Ian Wright, [Dennis] Bergkamp, [Marc] Overmars, and the rest, and you could never bully them either with Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit and Tony Adams in there."

Comparing eras is very difficult because the game evolves and is played in different environments.

Former England defender Danny Mills says: "This current Man City team would hammer nearly every team that ever played if all games were played in this era. They're that good. But even 10-15 years ago, the game was so much more physical. They would have got kicked off the park. Nowadays you can't tackle. I got sent off seven times. If I was [playing now] it would be 77! Back then, they could not have played like they can now, pinging all those passes around."

You could argue, too, that it's too early to be putting this City team's name up in lights, even if an unprecedented "quadruple" of Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup is still firmly on the table. Until the trophies are in the bank, this team must wait its turn to be ranked above even other City title winners, especially the one that amassed a record 100 points three seasons ago. Yet all things are still possible in this curious season of "ghost games" which must go down with an asterisk against it, so strange has the environment been with temperature guns, face masks and empty stadiums.

It has been extraordinary that City -- badly hit by a rash of positive COVID-19 tests in mid-December -- put together the run they did, especially as the manager revealed last week: "I sat and watched us play West Brom, a 1-1 draw, and I thought 'I don't like my team.' We needed to be calmer, to think more and not run everywhere.

"I sat with the coaches, and we decided to go back to [basics]. Lots of width, and to maybe surprise opponents by pushing Joao [Cancelo] and Alex [Zinchenko] inside to get more numbers into central midfield, and then to be calm, and let the talent of the players take over."

Of course, there's one element that makes this City side much meaner than some of the free-scoring, but defensively shaky, previous editions: Ruben Dias. Since arriving from Benfica, his partnership with a revitalised John Stones has so far conceded five goals in 17 matches together. This is the most secure City have probably ever looked in the modern era, even eclipsing the Vincent Kompany teams. Guardiola is thankful: "Ruben plays every match like it's the last one. He not only plays his game, he makes all the others better too."

That much-improved defending is what makes this season's City far more difficult to beat, and it also gives them a much bigger chance in the Champions League, which is surely the "unfinished business" Guardiola was referring to when he signed a new contract to stay in England.

"I love to train in the Shakespeare country, the Beatles country, the Oasis country. It is not just the football, it is special here," he says.

Having a team this gifted helps as well. How they last the pace of this bizarre and demanding season might be crucial. They did look just a little jaded at the end of the United derby defeat.

But only when the season ends can we truly judge where they stand in the pantheon of great Premier League teams.

Ricky Skerritt has urged the territorial boards in the Caribbean not to risk what he sees as the "delicate vulnerability" of the recovery of West Indies cricket in the presidential election at the end of this month.

Skerritt, the current Cricket West Indies (CWI) president, is seeking a second term as president as he approaches the end of his initial two-year term. And while he accepts the last couple of years have presented some significant challenges, he insists his regime has "helped CWI onto the right tracks".

In particular, Skerritt claims that, when he ended Dave Cameron's six-year term as president, he inherited an organisation filled with "chaos and confusion" and burdened by such debt that he says it "could not meet most of our obligations".

But with West Indies currently placed 10th in the ICC's T20I rankings - one place below Afghanistan - as well as ninth in ODIs and eighth in Test cricket, and the board having had to make 50% pay cuts to all staff, including players, to help them get through the pandemic, Skerritt's rivals have plenty of material with which to work.

The other candidate for CWI president is Anand Sanasie, secretary of the Guyana Cricket Board. Cameron has endorsed Sanasie's campaign, though Sanasie himself has said he has no plans to offer Cameron an official role if he is elected. The election takes place on March 28. Skerritt won 8-4 in 2019.

"We were facing serious cashflow problems from the very beginning," Skerritt told ESPNcricinfo. "So, I regret that there were many people who we couldn't pay when the time was there to pay. There were many trade payables that we had to renege on and fortunately the goodwill with our creditors has been so good that we haven't had any untoward repercussions.

"There was a chaos and confusion within CWI which had to be rectified fairly quickly. Some individuals had, for whatever motive, abused the system and not paid attention to certain basic protocols. There was also a tendency from the board to overreach into executive management. We needed to move on from constant battling and petty personnel fighting.

"But it's not pleasant when you take over an organisation that can't pay its bills. Players had not been paid their basic salaries and, in several cases, their match fees for months.

"The debt to players was my biggest concern when I first became president. When you have to decide whether to pay the hotel, or the transport company, or the airlines that they have to try to fly on, it's a very delicate decision. But now players are our priority, it's as simple as that.

"The biggest problem we were facing is that all of our future cash was spoken for before we even got it. We were living on borrowed future income. So, we had close to $20 million in institutional debt. And we were borrowing to pay back lenders. It was all footwork and mirrors. And that's understandable on short-term strategies when there are difficult times for cash flow. But it had become endemic.

"So, we've cut our debt down by at least a third now after less than two years. And, with some difficulty, we have improved our ability to meet our obligations. We just could not meet most of our obligations.

"We were borrowing money to pay wages. We did that for the first year that I was in office. Right up until the early summer last year we were literally having to borrow to just pay players and staff.

"We are confident that we have helped cricket West Indies onto the right tracks. And we need to stay on track. We have to be very careful because of the delicate vulnerability of what we have achieved for just a short while, that it can go off track very easily."

As well as hoping to bring high-profile ICC events back to the Caribbean - possibly in partnership with USA Cricket and Canada Cricket - Skerritt is standing on a platform promoting governance reform.

That would mean a restructuring of the CWI board on the lines of the Wehby report whereby the overall number of board members would be halved and the influence of the territorial boards would be diluted. Instead, the emphasis would be upon independent members with specific expertise. Given it is those same territorial board members voting in the presidential election, there is scope for resistance.

"There are those people using the Wehby report to scare people in the territorial board system and to give them the impression that somehow the Wehby report represents an attack on West Indies cricket," Skerritt said. "It's actually a substantial review of some of the things we do and how we can do them better.

"Will people on the territorial boards be prepared to vote themselves out of a role? That's the million-dollar question. How many of us will be big enough to see that West Indies cricket is bigger than us individually? It's the most difficult thing."

A key element in the election might be how West Indies' tour of England, conducted during the first peak of the pandemic in the UK, is perceived around the territorial boards. Calvin Hope, the vice-president of the Barbados Cricket Board, who is running as Sanasie's deputy, has previously chastised Skerritt and co. for failing to negotiate a fee for agreeing to the tour.

"We had an opportunity to negotiate with England and we went on that tour for not one red cent," Hope told a radio show in the region. "We refused to negotiate and to pressure and to use our leverage with England. England was saved £350 million and all West Indies got was a pat on the back."

Skerritt, however, believes such a "distasteful action" would have amounted to an attempt to "extort money" for the trip. He also believes the long-term approach conducted by CWI will have been shown to pay a dividend when the ECB announce they are to extend their Caribbean tour in early 2022 from two Tests to three. There will also be a separate T20I tour starting in late January.

"Those folks wanted me to somehow hold a gun to the head of ECB and extort money from them," he told ESPNcricinfo. "There was this perception that if we didn't go to England, the ECB would go bankrupt and therefore they were prepared to pay any kind of money to make us come.

"It was ridiculously untrue. There were other teams lined up to go to England. And I could bet you that none of them were attempting the distasteful action of seeking to extort money for the trip. It just doesn't happen in ICC systems.

"The criticism came from people who were upset that we tried to re-introduce cricket because, for them, no cricket was going to be used as a failure of ours.

"CWI and the ECB have had good relations for decades. So we've been able to continue talking with ECB about the tour that is due next year and how we could even strengthen that tour which gives a huge financial benefit to CWI. We're very grateful that they have been very open to that discussion. It's going to mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in terms of broadcast revenue that will be generated."

It was noticeable that Sanasie's nomination for president came from the Barbados Cricket Broad, whose chair, Conde Riley, called for the sacking of Phil Simmons, West Indies' head coach, on the eve of the series against England. That has led to suggestions that, should Skerritt be defeated, Simmons could be among those to go shortly afterwards.

"When there were people calling for his removal, it was not only shocking, it was very distasteful," Skerritt said. "And very worrying. Because it reminds us how vulnerable West Indies cricket is to those critics who only see their own shadows ahead of them.

"It is a very sad reality that across the Caribbean not everybody really, genuinely loves West Indies cricket through thick and thin. Some of the people have given many hours of support for West Indies cricket but, when it comes to certain matters of politics, you almost can't recognise them.

"I sincerely hope and pray that the good things we have started will have some level of sustainability. But unfortunately, the culture still needs a lot of work."

ESPNcricinfo has also invited Anand Sanasie to be interviewed.

Jhulan Goswami has welcomed the announcement of a Test match for India Women, likely during their tour of England in June-July, and thanked the BCCI for realising "that this format is also important for us". The fixture will be India's first in the format since November 2014, a period in which England and Australia have been the only teams to have played Test cricket in the women's circuit.

"Everyone is very excited. We played a Test match last, against South Africa in Mysore in 2014, and after six [seven] years we are going to play a Test against England," Goswami said at a press conference on Tuesday after picking up 4 for 42 to lead India to a win in the second ODI against South Africa Women in Lucknow. "We are all excited because Test cricket or days' match is one thing you, as a cricketer, wanted to play, wanted to go out there and perform well. It involves a lot of challenge - from your mental strength to your physical strength. The game changes every session."

The only active Indian player apart from Mithali Raj to have played ten or more Tests, Goswami was part of the team that defeated England by six wickets in the last contest between the two sides in the longest format, in August 2014. "We are all looking forward [to it]," Goswami said. "Thanks to the BCCI they understood that this format is also important for us. I would like to thank them for taking it up, bringing Test cricket [back] for India."

Thirty-eight-year-old Goswami, one of the greats of the game, has 40 wickets from ten Test appearances to date, with three five-wicket innings hauls - including a best of 5 for 25 - and one ten-wicket match haul. She also has 283 runs in the format, scored at an average of 25.72.

Sune Luus, South Africa's captain in India in the injury-enforced absence of Dane van Niekerk, expressed her hope that the development would encourage other boards and the ICC to revive the format.

"We would love to play Tests. Unfortunately, I wasn't part of the Test series we played here [in 2014], but I know the team would love to have an opportunity to play more Tests," Luus, whose career of over 150 international games has yet to feature a Test, said. "It's obviously a real challenge, the kind of skills are being looked at.

"The BCCI announcing that India will be playing a Test that will probably lead to more. If they will win it, it is successful. I think it's a very good start. I hope the world sees it and the world pushes the ICC and those involved for the women's game to have more Tests."

There is some advantage to bowling first in Lucknow but not so much to justify first-innings scores of under 200, according to South Africa Women captain Sune Luus and India's premier pace bowler Jhulan Goswami.

India and South Africa were bowled out cheaply in the two matches that have been played so far - for 177 and 157 respectively - and were untroubled in their chases. South Africa won the first match by eight wickets, India were victorious in the second by nine.

Goswami said the troubles upfront were because of the early starts and fresh conditions, which have eased up as the day has progressed. "We are playing a 9 o'clock match and when you are playing in a place like Lucknow, in the morning there is a little bit of moisture in the wicket. If you get the ball in the right area, it's not easy to play shots," she said after her match-winning four-for. "It's much easier in the second innings. The wicket is very flat and you just need to play through the line. If you're bowling first, it looks like an advantage is there for bowlers."

"She's a lot taller than most women that we would have played against so you have to play her the way you play the length of a man"

Sune Luus on the challenge of facing Jhulan Goswami

Luus noted that there also seemed to be more movement on Tuesday as compared to Sunday, but laid the blame for the low total with South Africa's line-up, rather than India's bowlers. "It's a good batting wicket throughout. For pace bowlers, there's always something in it for the first 10 or 15 overs when you bowl first. And it was a fresh wicket today. There was quite a lot of movement. Their two opening bowlers - Goswami and Mansi Joshi - bowled extremely well with the new ball. But we didn't execute our shots. I don't think they bowled well enough to bowl us out with great deliveries, although they still bowled well. We gave our wickets away at the wrong times."

South Africa lost six wickets for 44 runs to collapse from 113 for 4 in the 30th over to 157 all out after 41 overs, a total Luus deemed below-par. She identified anything over 200 as acceptable on this pitch, even batting first, not least against the game's leading ODI wicket-taker. Goswami took the only two South African wickets to fall in the first match and four out of ten in the second game.

"She's a lot taller than most women that we would have played against so you have to play her the way you play the length of a man. Where she bowls the ball from is very high so she automatically gets more bounce. It kind of sneaks up on you," Luus explained. "But today, it was soft dismissals from her bowling. She bowled extremely well in the first 10 overs, nipping it around and asking questions. We need to see through the first ten overs where she is at her most dangerous and try and capitalise when she comes back. It comes down to better positions and better plans."

South Africa's task at hand is to work out how to improve performances from their middle order ahead of the next match, whether or not they bat first. However, with all five matches in this series due to be played at the same venue, and start at the same time, there may be a danger of proceedings playing out predictably, except if India, as Goswami warned, continue to get better after a rusty start.

"In the first match we were playing after a long time and it took time to settle our nerves. We were bowling both sides of the wicket and there and there but today was much more disciplined," Goswami said. "When you are coming back after a long layoff you need to settle down."

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots will be acquiring offensive tackle Trent Brown from the Las Vegas Raiders in a trade after agreeing to a restructured one-year contract worth up to $11 million with him, sources tell ESPN's Field Yates.

Brown, 27, previously played for the Patriots in 2018, starting every game in the team's Super Bowl championship season. His excellent season set the stage for the Raiders to sign him to a four-year, $66 million contract as an unrestricted free agent in March of 2019.

But Brown (6-foot-8, 380 pounds) has appeared in just 16 games over the past two seasons for the Raiders.

"Trent's whole thing is when he's healthy, in shape and ready to go, he's as dominant as any tackle in football and he proved that early in the 2019 season. Since then, it's kind of been a roller-coaster," Raiders general manager Mike Mayock said last week.

"So really what he needs to do more than anything is get himself in the best shape of his life and come out and prove that he is a dominant tackle in the National Football League, and really that's all it takes. If Trent gets in shape and stays committed, there's not a better talent out there."

Finances were a factor for both teams, as Brown was scheduled to earn $13.7 million in base salary in 2021, and $15 million in 2022.

Moving on from Brown clears about $14 million on the salary cap for the Raiders, who before the trade had about $3 million in space, according to OverTheCap.com.

The Patriots, with approximately $66 million in cap space, can easily absorb Brown's adjusted contract that will make Brown a free agent after the 2021 season.

Brown, who can play both left and right tackle, could make veteran tight tackle Marcus Cannon expendable in New England. Releasing Cannon, who had opted out of the 2020 season, would save the Patriots about $6.3 million on the cap.

Also, starting left tackle Isaiah Wynn has battled injuries in each of his first three seasons, so Brown adds another layer of protection to the team at the position. Starting left guard Joe Thuney is also likely to depart in free agency after playing on the franchise tag in 2020, and the addition of Brown gives the Patriots an option to move Wynn to guard.

The Patriots had initially acquired Brown from the San Francisco 49ers in April of 2018, landing him along with a fifth-round pick in exchange for a third-round pick. He entered the NFL as a seventh-round pick of the 49ers in 2015.

The trade won't become official until the start of the league year March 17.

Sprints and relays role to be shared but the search continues for a new British Athletics head of endurance

Christian Malcolm, the head coach of British Athletics, will be joined in the national squad in coming months by two former sprints team-mates from South Wales – Darren Campbell and Tim Benjamin.

Campbell has been appointed head of short sprints and relays whereas Benjamin has been named head of long sprints and relays.

The job of head of sprints and relays has traditionally been done by one person but the governing body says: “The decision to split the role into long and short sprints was taken recognising the specialist expertise both candidates bring to this event group. Both roles are part time but offer full time coverage.”

Both Malcolm and Benjamin represented Cardiff and Wales during their careers and were coached by Jock Anderson and Linford Christie. With a 400m best of 44.56 from 2005, Benjamin sits No.9 on the UK all-time rankings and he retired about 12 years ago.

Campbell, meanwhile, has strong South Wales links too and won the European 100m title and Olympic 4x100m gold during his career.

However, the search for a successor to Barry Fudge as head of endurance has not been successful and British Athletics say that Rob Denmark (below) will continue to do the role on an interim basis until after the Tokyo Olympics.

A statement read: “A wider and longer term strategy for endurance will be driven via a wide consultation across a range of stakeholders. Chris Jones will be seconded with the agreement of Welsh Athletics on a two-day a week basis to lead on this project in conjunction with Christian Malcolm and (performance director) Sara Symington.”

On the sprints and relays news, Malcolm said: “These are great appointments for the sport. Darren and Tim bring a wealth of experience to the roles following their successful careers in and out of the sport. I am pleased to bring them into the team as we continue to support athletes and coaches to achieve their goals during 2021 and beyond.”

Benjamin said: “I am delighted to be offered this role alongside Darren. I’ve remained a big fan of athletics throughout my retirement and had always wanted an opportunity to give back to my sport. I’ve had 11 years in the commercial world yet my heart has always been here.

“I had a great competitive career and have worked with world-class coaches such as Jock Anderson, Tony Lester, Colin Jackson and Linford Christie. I’ve been exposed to so many differing approaches and I’ve also made my fair share of errors as an athlete which means I can bring this insight and experience to help support the athletes and coaches I work with in this role.”

Campbell said: “I’m really pleased to accept this role and work with Tim, Christian and Sara. I felt like it was the right time to get involved with the sport again. I’m excited by the new leadership and the new direction it’s headed in by putting the athlete first.

“I’ve had experience across the board competing, coaching, mentoring and mediating and understand what the athletes and their coaches will be looking for. When I was competing, I don’t feel we always got what we needed, and support wasn’t offered properly. I know I can bring that experience and help to ensure athletes have what they need to be successful.

“I’m looking forward to putting my energy into this, giving encouragement to the athletes so they can perform when they need to.”

With questions hanging over the future of three of Paris Saint-Germain's biggest stars, it is likely they will need to sign a new top-level option in attack this summer.

Angel Di Maria's contract expires in June and, although PSG have signalled their intentions to renew it, the Argentina international turned 33 in February and is not a long-term solution. Doubts remain regarding star striker Kylian Mbappe, with his contract up in 2022 and having expressed a desire to play for Real Madrid "one day." And then there is Neymar, whose injury worries persist -- the 29-year-old has started just 16, 15 and nine (this season) Ligue 1 matches for PSG over the past three years.

Even if PSG manage to extend any of the above to new terms -- with sources telling ESPN that Neymar has already agreed to a four-year deal -- the French giants will still want to bring in a forward, preferably one who can play in a variety of positions, in order to land the elusive Champions League trophy.

Sources told ESPN that the club have shown an interest in signing Barcelona legend Lionel Messi when his contract expires in the summer, yet the 33-year-old's future remains unclear in the wake of the presidential election and his financial expectations -- presuming he wishes to retain something near his current wages -- are hard to meet, even for PSG.

So who could one of the richest clubs in the world target instead? In the current climate it will be tough to pull off, but here are five alternatives who could fit well in Paris.

Mohamed Salah, 28, Liverpool

The Egypt international is one of only around half a dozen Liverpool players who have properly turned up amid a disappointing Premier League season. Despite the team's attacking patterns becoming largely unrecognisable, as the joyful interplay between the forwards from previous years has often been absent as they've lost their last six games at Anfield, Salah has nevertheless contributed with his fair share. He has registered 17 league goals and he's still the most creative player at Anfield; this season he still averages 1.47 chances per game, against 1.65 from his sensational previous campaign.

PSG's hopes of landing Salah will be helped if Liverpool fail to qualify for the Champions League this season, while there have been rumours of disquiet with manager Jurgen Klopp and the club may decide to cash in on a high-earning player who turns 29 in the summer before his contract (which ends in 2023) starts running down. Either way, the potential signing of Salah would provide the PSG frontline with a more consistent left-footed option than Pablo Sarabia and obviously add another world-class star to the squad, but he wouldn't come cheap.

Jadon Sancho, 20, Borussia Dortmund

After a slow start to the season, possibly affected by the long-awaited €120m transfer to Manchester United that never materialised, Sancho is hitting the same peaks of form that catapulted him into the top echelon of attacking midfielders/wide forwards in Europe last campaign. Since the turn of the year, the England winger has found the net on eight occasions while setting his teammates up for another seven.

As the signals coming from the Manchester United camp indicate that a renewed pursuit for the 20-year-old might not be a given, other European powerhouses could begin to explore a possible transfer. Sancho's directness and incisiveness in the last third, mixed with his ability to perform comfortably on either side, make him a feasible target. Dortmund are currently trailing the Champions League spot by four points and missing out on that competition, along with the growing financial hit caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, could make the exit of Sancho inevitable this summer.

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Lautaro Martinez, 23, Internazionale

Under normal circumstances a forward like Martinez would have been untouchable, perhaps even for the likes of PSG, but with the pandemic still at large and Inter's owners, the Chinese conglomerate Suning, having already closed the door on one of their football operations in China, nothing can be ruled out.

Martinez, who came to the fore while playing for Racing Club de Avellaneda in Argentina as a teenager, has been in devastating form for Inter this season. Linking well with Romelu Lukaku up front, the Argentina international has scored 13 goals, often assisting -- or being assisted by -- the Belgian.

With his intensity, sense of opportunism, natural ability and competitive edge to his game, Martinez is a forward of the Luis Suarez or Carlos Tevez ilk. Always on the move and excellent at holding off challenges, he is also capable of playing on the left-hand side of the attack, from where he can cut infield on his favoured right foot. Useful in the pressing game, he's also willing to help track back.

Memphis Depay, 27, Lyon

Pound-for-pound one of the top three players in Ligue 1 over the past couple of seasons, Depay is an attractive proposition for several European giants due to him being available as a free agent in the summer. Depay wasted little time getting over his failed (though somewhat underrated) Manchester United stint as he quickly became a key player for Lyon upon joining the club in January 2017.

Though Barcelona and Juventus are reported to be the frontrunners in the chase for the Dutch forward, it would surprise nobody if PSG were keeping close tabs. Mainly a wide player in the Premier League, Depay has predominantly been fielded as a "false No. 9" for Lyon -- often dropping deep to perform playmaking duties or opening up space for the wingers. His versatility, along with amazing technical qualities and the ability to create danger with every touch of the ball, indicate that the Lyon captain belongs at the very top of the game.

While a potential move between the two French rivals wouldn't go down well with Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas, PSG would doubtless rejoice at depriving their rivals of their star player.

Mikel Oyarzabal, 23, Real Sociedad

Although Oyarzabal lacks the stellar appeal of the other four, he would be a sound signing -- especially if PSG end up following many of their domestic and European rivals by taking a more prudent line in the transfer market. While in that scenario harnessing talent and resale value are paramount, in Mauricio Pochettino, PSG now have a coach who has never shied away from developing talents.

A stand-out at youth level, Oyarzabal has already amassed nearly 200 league appearances for Real Sociedad and even grabbed a recent starting spot for the senior Spain side. An intelligent off the ball runner with an excellent left foot (though also capable with his right), the 23-year-old Basque forward can operate on either wing and is particularly useful when allowed to drift into central areas to slide through passes to runners from midfield (he registers an impressive 35 key passes this season). Ten goals and six league assists this campaign suggest he could be on the verge of a real breakthrough.

Did events in

Starting with the women’s events, we look at how our predictions fared compared to what actually happened at the European Indoor Championships.

We also ask whether Toruń has any relevance to what will happen at the Tokyo Olympics.

Including men and women’s events our predictions suggested we expected Poland (5 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze) to top the tables from Netherlands (4, 3, 0) and Britain (2, 2, 5).

The actual result was Netherlands (4, 1, 2) ahead of Portugal (3, 0, 0) and GB (2, 4, 6), Belgium (2, 2, 1) and France (2, 2, 0) with Poland only eighth (1, 5, 4) but having the second highest medal haul behind Britain.

In the overall placings, Britain were top with 112.5 points from Poland (90), Netherlands (75.5), Germany (68) and Spain (63).

60m

Once Ewa Swoboda pulled out, Ajla Del Ponte was an obvious winner and she produced one of the best performances and clearest wins of the championships as she moved to equal fifth of all-time among Europeans. Our other selections proved less successful with Lederer nowhere her German Championships from and Carolle Zahi not matching her semi-final winning form in the final.

Prediction: 1 Del Ponte (SUI) 7.09; 2 Lederer (GER); 3 Zahi (FRA)
Actual: 1 Del Ponte (SUI) 7.03; 2 Kemppinen (FIN) 7.22; 3 Samuel (NED) 7.22 (Zahi 6th 7.26 (7.21sf), Lederer 5th sf 7.29)

400m

The winner was totally predictable though Lieke Klaver did not run to form which allowed an inspired Jodie Williams to win a medal in her first 400m championships. The Briton indicated she might major at the 200m in Tokyo but she is bound to be a crucial cog in Britain’s 4x400m team at the very least.
With this speed Femke Bol (main image, above) should challenge the Americans out in Japan at 400m hurdles.

Prediction: 1 Bol (NED) 50.48; 2 Klaver (NED); 3 Święty-Ersetic (POL)
Actual: 1 Bol (NED) 50.63; 2 Święty-Ersetic (POL) 51.41; 3 JODIE WILLIAMS 51.73 (Klaver 5th 52.03)

800m

Thankfully we got this prediction wrong, including the time, as Keely Hodgkinson defeated our selection Joanna Jozwik by a clear metre. On this form the Briton could well make the Olympic final and she is likely to be even better come the summer! She ran the last 400m in 58.57 and 200m in 28.28.

Prediction: 1 Jóźwik (POL) 1:59.66; 2 Hynne (NOR); 3 KEELY HODGKINSON
Actual: 1 HODGKINSON 2:03.88; 2 Jóźwik (POL) 2:04.00; 3 Cichocka (POL) 2:04.15. (Hynne 4th heat 2:06.46)

1500m

Once our original selection Ciara Mageean of Ireland withdrew a few days before the event, we did select event leader Elise Vanderelst and she won surprisingly easily considering she only qualified as a fastest loser from the heats. In the final she ran a 2:05.75 last 700m and 59.03 last 400m.

Vanderelst could be a finalist in Tokyo. However runner-up Holly Archer, who ran a terrible tactical race in Poland, will have a harder job to even get to Tokyo with the likes of Laura Muir, Jemma Reekie and Sarah McDonald to overcome in the British trials.

Prediction: 1 Vanderelst (BEL) 4:09.65; 2 Guerrero (ESP); 3 Klein (GER)
Actual: 1 Vanderelst (BEL) 4:18.44; 2 HOLLY ARCHER 4:19.91; 3 Klein (GER) 4:20.07 – Guerrero 5th 4:20.45 (led after 28.77 penultimate 200m to bell)

3000m

This did not go the form book. Marusa Mišmaš-Zrimsek was rather harshly disqualified in her heat and Maureen Kosta tripped late in the final but looked like she may have been struggling anyway. Amy-Eloise Markovc was underrated and seen as a finalist rather than a winner but ran a brilliant race, although we did get Verity Ockenden’s third spot on!

Obviously the big hitters of European athletics – Hassan, Muir, Klosterhalfen and Can – were absent and while their absence gave an opportunity to others those who ran here will have their work cut out just to make the Olympics. The winner ran a 64.82 last 400m and should get the Tokyo qualifying time based on the strength of her Toruń run.

Prediction: 1 Mišmaš-Zrimsek (SLO) 8:53.30; 2 Koster (NED); 3 VERITY OCKENDEN
Actual: 1 AMY-ELOISE MARKOVC 8:46.43; 2 Finot (FRA) 8:46.54; 3 OCKENDEN 8:46.60 (Mismas-Zrimsek disqualified heat, Koster DNF final)

60m hurdles

Apart from a huge improvement from Cindy Sember, this went pretty much to the form book. On this form Nadine Visser (below, centre) should lead the non-American challenge in Tokyo and the two Britons will be looking at a place in the final at the very least.

Prediction: 1 Visser (NED) 7.82; 2 PORTER; 3 Neziri (FIN)
Actual: 1 Visser (NED) 7.77; 2 SEMBER 7.89; 3 PORTER 7.92;(Neziri 4th 7.93)

4x400m relay

It went pretty much to the form book though and we did say “much might depend on Justyna Święty-Ersetic on the final leg,” and the Pole did not compete after an individual second place though Britain were closer than expected and it might have been even better with a different order and a better last change-over.

All three medallists will be in the mix in Tokyo for the bronze medals behind USA and Jamaica.

Prediction: 1 Netherlands 3:27.65; 2 Poland; 3 GBR
Actual: 1 Netherlands 3:27.15; 2 GB 3:28.20; 3 Poland 3:28.94

High jump

Yaroslava Mahuchikh (below) won as expected and confirmed she will be at the very worst the joint favourite in Japan. Morgan Lake did not do as well as her 1.96m pre-championships form suggested and failed to make the final.

Prediction: 1 Mahuchikh (UKR) 2.04; 2 Levchenko (UKR); 3 LAKE
Actual: 1 Mahuchikh (UKR) 2.00; 2 Herashchenko (UKR) 1.98; 3 Junnila (FIN) 1.96 (4 Levchenko 1.94, Lake 13th qual 1.87)

Pole vault

This did not go to form with Holly Bradshaw suffering her first loss to Angelika Moser at the 21st meeting though our three predicted medallists did all medal. On this form the Europeans won’t be challenging for gold but could be in a battle for the minor medals.

Prediction: 1 HOLLY BRADSHAW 4.85; 2 Zhuk (BLR); 3 Sutej (SLO)
Actual: 1 Moser (SUI) 4.75; 2 Sutej (SLO) 4.70; 3 BRADSHAW/Zhuk (BLR) 4.65

Long jump

The best quality women’s event of the championships saw Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk win in a world-leading 6.92m and, while she was not selected for a medal by us, it was hardly a surprise and just reflects the quality of the field.

All the medallists (and indeed the top five) should be in medal contention for the Olympics.

Prediction: 1 Mihambo (GER) 6 87; 2 Iapichino (ITA); 3 Sagnia (SWE)
Actual: 1 Bekh-Romanchuk (UKR) 6.92; 2 Mihambo (GER) 6.88; 3 Sagnia (SWE) 6.75 (5 Iapichino 6.59)

Triple jump

With just a centimetre between the top three this was one of the closest contests in Poland but there were a few surprises. The leading Europeans will not win gold in in Tokyo judging by the distances achieved here but may pick up a bronze.

Bronze medallist Neele Eckhardt was one of the few athletes to medal who was not in the pre event top five or mentioned in our preview, but she hadn’t even jumped 14 metres prior to Toruń.

Prediction: 1 Papahrístou (GRE) 14.65; 2 Skvartsova (BLR); 3 Peleteiro (ESP)
Actual: 1 Mamona (POR) 14.53; 2 Peleteiro (ESP) 14.52; 3 Eckhardt (GER) 14.52 (4 Skvartsova 14.35, 5 Papahristou (GRE) 14.31)

Shot put

Auriol Dongmo won but not by the margin expected with Fanny Roos moving up a level to take the silver as all the medallists were chosen but not necessarily totally in the right order. All the medallists will be in medal contention in Tokyo on this form.

Prediction: 1 Dongmo (POR) 19.40; 2 Schwanitz (GER); 3 Roos (SWE)
Actual: 1 Dongmo (POR) 19.34; 2 3 Roos (SWE) 19.29; 3 Schwanitz (GER) 19.04

Pentathlon

Nafissatou Thiam won as expected but was in better form than her earlier results suggested. On this form she will be vying for gold with Katarina Johnson-Thompson in Tokyo if both are fit.

Prediction: 1 Thiam (BEL) 4715; 2 Dadic (AUT); 3 Vidts (BEL)
Actual: 1 Thiam (BEL) 4904; 2 Vidts (BEL) 4791; 3 Krizsan (HUN) 4644 (4 Dadic 4587)