Pep Guardiola is keen for Manchester City to keep Bernardo Silva beyond the end of this season, declaring he would like the see the midfielder stay "forever".

Guardiola acknowledged Silva was interested in a move to Barcelona last year, but a transfer failed to materialise and the Portugal international stayed with the Premier League champions.  

Silva has appeared in 27 of City's 29 league games this term, and he produced arguably his best performance of the campaign in Tuesday's 3-0 Champions League win over Bayern Munich.

While the 28-year-old will likely attract more admiring glances in the next transfer window, Guardiola wants him to stay at the Etihad Stadium for the long term.

"With Bernardo, it's not the first season we are together. What he is on and off the pitch… he's so sensitive, intuitive," Guardiola told Sky Sports.

"All the club, not just me, want the best when you are lucky enough to have these kinds of football players and human beings in your team.

"You would love to have him forever, it doesn't matter what position he plays or what he has to do, his contribution is massive."

Silva is not the only City midfielder to have been linked with Barcelona, with the agent of Ilkay Gundogan denying reports the Germany international has agreed to join the Blaugrana upon the expiration of his contract.

Asked whether he expected to duo to stay, Guardiola said: "I don't know what is going to happen. Honestly, I'm not involved, ever. In that, the club can take the lead and decide everything.

"The words I gave to you right now about Bernardo… Bernardo could be the same as Ilkay, for many, many years. He's even my neighbour!" 

Silva and Gundogan have both featured in four Premier League title triumphs since joining City, though the Champions League trophy has so far eluded them.

That could change this term as City remain in contention for a Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup treble, but Guardiola believes it is too soon to envisage winning all three.

"The treble starts to happen when you are in the three finals, when you are there," he said. "You can talk about that when they start. 

"Now you are just in the quarter-finals, not even reaching the finals, it's okay for the writers but the reality is completely different."

Gavi has everything he needs at Barcelona and would not be happy at another club, according to Xavi.

The Spain international's future is uncertain due to Barcelona's financial situation, with a new contract at Camp Nou unable to be registered.

As a result, Gavi remains a youth player at the club and will be able to leave at the end of the season if the situation cannot be resolved, reportedly alerting a number of clubs in Europe.

Chelsea and Bayern Munich have both been attributed with an interest in signing the teenager, with the former reportedly prepared to make him one of the Premier League's best-paid players.

However, Xavi still believes his future is in Catalonia and questioned why he would want to leave.

"I don't think Gavi would be happy at another club, he has everything here," he told a pre-match press conference.

"He's 18-years-old, he's a key player in our team. For me, he is a footballer who is outstanding.

"I don't know what he is going to decide but, for me, his future is here at the club."

Barcelona may hold a commanding edge over their LaLiga rivals, but Xavi is taking nothing for granted.

The Blaugrana are playing after Real Madrid visit Cadiz, where Los Blancos can cut Barca's lead at the summit to 10 points, on Saturday.

Barca can restore a 13-point lead against Getafe on Sunday, with Xavi's men firmly on course to win LaLiga for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

With Madrid likely to focus their attention on the Copa del Rey final and their Champions League campaign, it would take a remarkable turn of events for Barca to lose their grip on the crown.

But Xavi is adamant that the hard work is not done and his side need to remain focused heading into the run-in.

"For us the difficult thing is to win games and tomorrow will be another test. They are playing against relegation and are risking their lives," he told a press conference.

"We are in a privileged situation, which I would have taken at the beginning of the season, but there is the final rush of the league, and we need to win many games to win this title.

"We have an important advantage, and these next three-to-four games are key. If we win them, we will be almost champions, but we are focused on tomorrow.

"We compete against very strong opponents. Being where we are in LaLiga has a lot of merit. We want to win this competition against Madrid and Atletico."

Frank Lampard jumped to Mason Mount's defence, insisting the Chelsea midfielder is "already a top player" despite a frustrating season.

The England international enjoyed a thoroughly productive 2021-22 campaign with the Blues, scoring 13 goals and providing 16 assists under Thomas Tuchel.

However, inconsistent form and injury problems have prevented the 24-year-old kicking on this term, netting just three times while registering six assists in 33 appearances.

But Lampard is fully behind Mount, who he took on loan to Derby County during the 2018-19 season before handing his Chelsea debut the following campaign.

And the Blues' caretaker boss cannot understand the criticism aimed at the academy graduate.

"I'm not going to tell anyone about what opinion they should have on football," Lampard said ahead of Chelsea's Premier League clash with Brighton and Hove Albion at Stamford Bridge.

"But if anyone thinks Mason Mount is not already a top-level player then I'm not sure what they're seeing in my opinion.

"Form is one thing people can debate. These players are getting debated more with social media than they did in my career.

"But from working with Mason - you can ask myself, Thomas Tuchel, Gareth Southgate and Graham Potter - he's clearly a top player."

Lampard added: "He's had his comeback from a small injury problem. It may be a little process over the next game or two to get Mason where we really want him to be, but he's a top player and has a big affiliation with the club.

"One thing I know about Mason is that a top player should have a real hunger to succeed and do well for Chelsea. He's had that since the first day I took him to Derby.

"It's simple for me. He's still a young player. He'll go even further, but he's already a top player."

Erik ten Hag has made his desire to sign a new striker for Manchester United ahead of next season clear.

The Red Devils are still fighting on three fronts this season as they battle to secure a top-four finish in the Premier League, as well as chasing glory in the FA Cup and Europa League.

United's pursuit of glory to add to the EFL Cup crown secured earlier this year has come despite a lack of central options in attack.

Wout Weghorst was signed on loan in January following the termination of Cristiano Ronaldo's contract before the World Cup in Qatar and, while performing admirably, is not the calibre of striker United are crying out for.

Ten Hag expects to change that when the window reopens for business, expressing the need for such a recruit.

"Everyone is different, obviously, but for a striker the main thing is to score goals by any method, that is so far ahead of anything else," he told Sky Sports.

"We need a striker who scores goals because we have ability in the team to put balls in the box, so we need a striker to finish.

"We have to build a new future and we need a striker who not only scores goals but contributes by linking up play very well and pressing, which is very important."

While recruitment of a new striker is clearly a priority for the upcoming transfer window, United will have to look within to provide the difference until the end of the season.

Having thrown away a two-goal lead on Thursday to draw 2-2 with Sevilla in the Europa League quarter-final first leg, Ten Hag is keen for his side to be more ruthless.

"First it has to come out of the development of the team, so we are aware that when we are dominant in a game, we have to kill the game," he added.

"We didn't do that and we let the opponent back in the tie. That was not good, it's a bad habit we have to hammer out.

"We demand from the players and the players demand from each other.

"You do your job always to 100 per cent, there are no ifs, buts or maybes, you have to deliver the performance in every circumstance."

United are away to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday.

Rudy Gobert believes the Minnesota Timberwolves can go on to beat anyone in the NBA playoffs after seeing off the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Timberwolves won 120-95 in their play-in matchup on Friday to secure the number eight seed in the Western Conference.

Minnesota must now take on the top-seeded Denver Nuggets in the first round as they go into the postseason as heavy underdogs but Gobert, who had 21 points and 10 rebounds against the Thunder, is not daunted.

"To be honest, I don't consider ourselves as an eight-seed," Gobert said, per ESPN.

"We are in the standings, but I don't consider us an eight-seed. 

"Now, it's an amazing opportunity for us to keep getting better as a team. It's a huge challenge for us. It's an exciting opportunity.

"But we're not looking at the standings anymore. We're looking at who is in front of us. 

"We believe if we play the right way, there's not a team in this league that we cannot beat."

Nickeil Alexander-Walker was praised for his performance guarding cousin Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA's fourth-highest scorer this season, after being handed a surprise start.

Minnesota's Karl-Anthony Towns, who top scored with 28 points and added 11 rebounds, was full of praise for his teammate, who helped to hold Gilgeous-Alexander to 5-of-19 from the field, a season-low shooting percentage (26.3).

"X-factor," Towns said about Alexander-Walker. "He's the reason we won. 

"He went out there and had a very, very tough job to guard Shai, who's been fantastic this whole year and one of the best scorers in the league. 

"And to go out there and do what he did is the reason we won. There's no other way to put it.

"We utilised our size. We did a great job of putting pressure on the paint and just doing what we do best."

Alexander-Walker added: "I was just so thankful for that opportunity to start and then have that assignment to guard him. 

"It's a little different than any other game. This is someone I grew up with my whole life. As far as people, he knows me better than anybody and he knows me better than anybody I could say."

The Timberwolves have now made the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time in almost two decades.

They previously had a run of eight straight postseason appearances came to an end in 2004.

Game 1 against Denver takes place on Sunday.

Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker has reportedly requested a trade, as an offseason of turmoil continues for the franchise.

The five-time Pro Bowl safety, a team captain, has spent all six of his seasons in the NFL with the Cardinals but is now seeking an exit.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Baker informed the team in February that he wanted to be traded or receive a new deal to make him the highest-paid safety in the league.

A two-time first-team All Pro, Baker led the team with 111 tackles last season but finished the campaign on injured reserve having fractured his shoulder in a Week 16 defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Baker's trade request means that the Cardinals could enter the 2023 season without two of their star names, with it widely reported that wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins has been granted ability to seek a trade due to his whopping $30.75 million cap hit.

The team have already lost J.J. Watt to retirement and franchise quarterback Kyler Murray is recovering from a serious knee injury after a dreadful 4-13 season in 2022 that led to the departure of head coach Kliff Kingsbury.

The Cardinals have also denied allegations of gross misconduct, including cheating, discrimination and harassment in an arbitration claim filed by former team executive Terry McDonough.

Additionally, Arizona received the second-lowest marks in the NFLPA player survey, receiving F grades for treatment of families, nutrition, the weight room, the training room and the locker room.

The Miami Heat are prepared for a war against the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks after defeating the Chicago Bulls 102-91 in Friday's play-in tournament.

Max Strus got Miami off to a great start with 23 points in the first half, draining six triples, before Jimmy Butler led a 15-1 run to close out the game and earn the Heat's fourth consecutive postseason appearance.

Strus and Butler finished with 31 points each, and while starting center Bam Adebayo scored just eight points on one-of-nine shooting, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra credited his big man with the result.

Adebayo grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds – eight more than any other player – while also chipping in four assists, a block and a steal.

"None of this is happening if Bam wasn't so electric defensively," Spoelstra said. "He really was traffic-copping everything that they were doing, he seemed to be in three places at once at all times.

"He had 17 rebounds, and I thought it was fitting that he got the block at the end. Chicago are a tough team, they really defend. It's not like you're going to generate a bunch of easy opportunities at the rim to be able to get into good rhythm as a basketball team.

"They're well-schooled, well-drilled, well-coached, and they're committed on that side of the floor, so we had to win this one in the mud."

Adebayo felt he was doing everything he could outside of scoring the ball to help his side win.

"The game isn't only depending on shots falling," he said. "I feel like I had a big impact on that game even though my shots weren't falling."

Looking forward to a matchup against two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the top-seeded Bucks, Butler acknowledged they have a tall task waiting in the wings.

"You're talking about an MVP in [Antetokounmpo], all the shooting, how together they are, they've been together for a while," Butler said. "It's going to be tough; it is. 

"Milwaukee have some great fans that are always showing up and showing out. So, we've got to play damn near perfect basketball, which we're capable of. 

"Play hard, stick together through the good, through the bad. We are one and I think we're going to be okay. Let this season go, let the play-in go. 0-0 and get to work."

Spoelstra added: "We have great respect for them, but we feel like we're Navy SEALs. Just drop us off, we'll parachute in, and let's go compete."

Jimmy Butler once again rose to the occasion to lift the Miami Heat to a 102-91 win over the Chicago Bulls in Friday's play-in tournament.

The win means the Heat have earned the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference and a first-round series against the top-ranked Milwaukee Bucks.

Against the Bulls, Miami led narrowly at half-time courtesy of a sharpshooting performance from Max Strus, scoring 23 points across the first two quarters on the back of six made three-pointers.

Strus went on to finish with an equal game-high 31 points, shooting eight-of-16 from the field and seven-of-12 from deep, providing some offensive firepower beside Butler.

Butler also scored 31, shooting 11-of-24 from the field while adding five rebounds, three assists and two steals in his 43 minutes of action, making up for the fact that starting trio Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro and Gabe Vincent combined for just 20 points on six-of-23 shooting.

DeMar DeRozan was strong for Chicago, scoring a team-high 26 points on nine-of-19 shooting while adding nine assists, but top option Zach LaVine struggled, shooting six-of-21 for his 15 points.

The result confirms the fourth consecutive postseason appearance for the Heat, where they will be looking for their third Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 2020.

Towns delivers on both ends in Wolves win

Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns produced one of his best games of the season to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-95 and earn a blockbuster first-round matchup against back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic.

Towns, who was only able to suit up for a career-low 29 games this regular season due to a four-month calf injury, scored a game-high 28 points (11-of-16 shooting), grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and blocked a team-high three shots in a great two-way showing.

The Thunder were down all game, but after trimming the margin to 10 points in the third quarter, All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander copped a hard accidental elbow to the face from Rudy Gobert, and while he was able to return, he was nursing a brutal black eye the rest of the way.

Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished fourth in the NBA in scoring at 31.4 points per game, top-scored for Oklahoma City with 22, but shot a disappointing five-of-19 from the field. He was also the only guard in the league to average at least one steal and one block, and he had one steal with three blocks.

The Timberwolves will now get a chance to face the top-seeded Denver Nuggets in the first round, and with Gobert and Towns, they are arguably the West's most equipped team to deal with Jokic from a size perspective.

The Minnesota Twins came back from the worst possible start to earn a 4-3 road win against the New York Yankees on Friday.

In a stunning first inning in front of their home fans, the Yankees led 2-0 after two at-bats. Rookie Anthony Volpe connected on a 394-foot shot to left-center field for his first career home run, and he was followed by reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge, who sent his solo home run 404 feet for his fifth dinger of the season.

Judge's five home runs this season trails only Baltimore Orioles slugger Ryan Mountcastle and New York Mets star Pete Alonso for the league's most, both with six.

But those two runs would be the only scores until the sixth inning, when Carlos Correa put the Twins on the board with a solo home run of his own, barely scraping over the short-porch at right-field with a distance of 331 feet.

Giancarlo Stanton answered for the Yankees in the bottom of the sixth, cancelling out Correa's blast with another solo home run, before Kyle Garlick smacked the game's fifth solo homer to cut the New York lead to 3-2.

But after Michael Taylor and Byron Buxton both got on base to lead off the eighth frame, Correa came through again with a two-run double to give the Twins their first lead, setting up Jhoan Duran to come in and pick up the save – his fourth of the season.

The win was the Twins' fourth in a row, improving their AL Central-leading record to 10-4, while the Yankees slipped to 8-6.

Jays end the Rays' historic start

The Tampa Bay Rays have had their perfect start to the season snapped at 13 wins after the Toronto Blue Jays defeated them 6-3 at home.

George Springer gave the Blue Jays an early lead when he sent the second pitch from Rays starter Drew Rasmussen 440 feet for a lead-off home run, before team-mate Bo Bichette doubled their lead with a ground-rule double in the second inning.

Bichette went on to collect five hits from his five at-bats – three singles and two doubles – but it was loose pitching from Tampa Bay that doomed them to defeat.

Trailing just 2-1 in the sixth inning, the Rays issued two bases-loaded walks, and then allowed two more runs to score on an error.

Tampa Bay tied the 1982 Atlanta Braves and the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers for the best start to a season (13-0) since the 1884 St Louis Maroons (20-0).

Ohtani and Trout both hit, walk in Angels loss

The Los Angeles Angels went down 5-3 on the road against the Boston Red Sox, despite their two former AL MVPs both finishing with a hit and a walk.

Shohei Ohtani went one-for-four with a walk, while Mike Trout also went one-for-four with a walk, although his hit went for a double down the left-field line.

The production from the Angels' stars was not enough to overcome three fielding errors as a team, including two costly errors from third-baseman Anthony Rendon to allow three runs, and a fourth run scored on a passed ball from catcher Logan O'Hoppe.

Boston's top bat Rafael Devers was the highlight for the home side, connecting on his equal league-leading sixth homer.

The San Francisco Giants locked up ace Logan Webb for the next five years, agreeing to a $90million extension with the right-hander on Friday that will keep him with the team through the 2028 season.

Webb struggled in his first two seasons with the Giants before he had a breakout campaign in 2021, going 11-3 with a 3.03 ERA in 27 appearances. He followed that up by compiling a 15-9 mark in 2022 with a 2.90 ERA and 163 strikeouts in 192 innings.

Webb, who grew up in nearby Rocklin, California, will earn $4.6m this season in his first year of arbitration eligibility, and would have been eligible for free agency after the 2025 season. He will receive an $8m salary next year, $12m in 2025, $23m each in 2026 and 2027 and $24m in 2028.

"It was just important for me to be able to say I can wear a Giants uniform for a long time," Webb said. "It's important for not only myself but my family and especially my community back home.

"I know they're very excited. There's a lot of diehard Giants fans in Rocklin, California. This is where I want to be – it's an honour."

Webb was the Giants' opening day starter this season, but has got off to a slow start with an 0-3 record and a 4.76 ERA in three starts.

"I've got to be a lot better, the team knows that, I know that and I'm excited to start showing that. I think I'm really close," Webb said. "It does show they have a lot of faith in me, and some of the stuff that's happened the first couple games is not going to happen hopefully very often.

"I don't think anybody, myself especially, thought I'd be 0-3 to start the season, but I'm excited to fix that, excited to get back to that winning baseball not only for myself but for our team."

Webb is 31-22 with a 3.59 ERA in five major league seasons.

Last week's Masters champion Jon Rahm shook off his poor opening round and rebounded with Friday's best score, while Jimmy Walker opened up a three-stroke lead at the RBC Heritage.

Rahm had a bit of a hangover following his second major victory, beginning his week at Harbour Town Golf Links with a one-over 72, before showing the field how it was done with a seven-under 64 on his second trip around the course.

He birdied holes two, three, four and five to kick-start a bogey-free round with seven birdies overall, jumping from the wrong side of the cut line to a tie for 18th at six under.

Meanwhile, at the top of the leaderboard it was Jimmy Walker who raced clear of the pack, posting his second 65 in a row to head into the weekend at 12 under.

Walker, 44, is a six-time winner on the PGA Tour, but his last victory came at the 2016 PGA Championship, and he came into this event with only four made cuts from 12 starts this season.

He has his work cut out for him to hold off a star-studded chasing pack, with world number two Scottie Scheffler joined by major champion Justin Rose and world number six Xander Schauffele at nine under.

Fellow top-10 talents Patrick Cantlay and Viktor Hovland are one stroke further back at eight under, where they are joined by English duo Aaron Rai and Tommy Fleetwood in a tie for fifth.

Jordan Spieth is tied for 10th at seven under with a group that includes Rickie Fowler and former RBC Heritage champion Matt Kuchar, and Rahm is joined at six under by reigning U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick.

Young South Korean phenom Tim Kim missed the cut by one stroke, while Max Homa had a week to forget, finishing at three over to miss the cut by five strokes.

Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City have enjoyed "incredible" success in keeping Erling Haaland fit, claiming his occasional early withdrawals of the striker have been justified.

Haaland sustained several injuries during his prolific two-year spell at Borussia Dortmund, netting 22 goals despite only starting 21 Bundesliga games in his final season with BVB.   

However, only Ederson (2,610) and Rodri (2,407) have played more Premier League minutes for City than Haaland this term (2,187) as Guardiola's men bid for a fifth title in six seasons. 

Haaland has averaged a goal every 72.9 minutes in his first Premier League campaign, and Guardiola says City have a host of medical professionals to thank for his continued availability.

"I don't know what he did in Dortmund but we take care of him 24 hours – we have incredible doctors and physios. They are behind him every second of the day," Guardiola said.

"It's difficult to understand why you would spend a lot of money [on players] and then leave them, but I don't know what the other clubs do.

"With this demanding schedule of games every three or four days we have to take care of them with nutrition, rest, sleep, food.

"For the training, how many minutes – there is data. Sometimes they cannot train more than 10 or 15 minutes."

Guardiola has been criticised for denying Haaland the opportunity to further his goalscoring exploits by substituting him early in some games – most notably when the Norwegian had helped himself to five goals within 57 minutes of a 7-0 Champions League win over RB Leipzig.

The City boss maintains those decisions are taken with the player's condition in mind and believes they have been justified.

"People say, 'Why was he subbed against Leipzig when he'd scored all the goals?' But then he was injured after the Burnley game," Guardiola said.

"He could not play with us against Liverpool or for Norway. We know we have to keep a watch because he's so big. Physios, massage, back, shoulders, tendons... everything.

"He works so much inside the training centre, much more than on the pitch. Today in modern football, players train more behind the scenes than on the pitch."

Haaland has scored 30 Premier League goals ahead of Saturday's game against Leicester City, with only Andrew Cole enjoying a more prolific debut campaign in the competition (34 in 1993-94).