Chelsea are close to signing 20-year-old winger Noni Madueke from PSV Eindhoven.

He was flying to London on Thursday night to complete the transfer, which is worth a reported £29m.

Madueke will be Chelsea’s sixth signing of the transfer window following deals for Mykhailo Mudryk, David Datro Fofana, Andrey Santos and Benoit Badiashile, plus Joao Felix on loan.

He signed for PSV in 2018 and has made 77 appearances, scoring 21 goals.

He has played four times for England Under-21s.

Barcelona comfortably made it through to the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey by thrashing third-tier side Ceuta.

Raphinha curled home in the first half, while Robert Lewandowski scored twice in the second period, converting from close range and stroking in for 5-0.

In between, 20-year-old Ansu Fati added a superb solo effort and midfielder Franck Kessie powerfully headed home.

Real Madrid also progressed to the last eight, staging a stunning second-half comeback to win 3-2 at Villarreal.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men had fallen 2-0 behind in the first half courtesy of goals from Etienne Capoue and Samuel Chukwueze.

But the visitors responded in superb fashion, as Vinicius Jr and Eder Militao drew them level before Dani Ceballos netted the winner four minutes from time.

Real are in the last 16 of the Champions League and travel to Liverpool in the first leg on 21 February.

Meanwhile, Barca are aiming for a league and cup double and are three points clear of Real at the top of La Liga.

Managed by their former star midfielder Xavi, Barcelona are also in the play-off round of the Europa League, hosting Manchester United in the first leg on 16 February.

World No 3 Jessica Pegula powered into a last-16 Australian Open showdown with former Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova after demolishing Marta Kostyuk 6-0, 6-2 on Friday.

The in-form Pegula has reached the quarterfinals on her last two visits to Melbourne Park and can make it a hat-trick if she beats the 2021 French Open champion on Sunday.

The American third seed needed just 65 minutes to canter past erratic Ukrainian Kostyuk, who committed 39 unforced errors to the consistent Pegula’s nine.

“I thought I didn’t give away a lot of free points. I was playing aggressive when I had to, but also playing smart. So that worked really well,” said Pegula.

“I wasn’t serving great today, but I thought I served smart enough to get myself through some tough games,” added Pegula, who was resilient enough to save eight break points as she dropped her serve just once.

Pegula and Kostyuk had only met on one previous occasion, in Cincinnati last year, with the Ukrainian taking the first set before the American outlasted her 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, 6-2 in 2hr 7min.

There was no chance of a repeat on Friday, Pegula ruthlessly racing to a triple break on her way to taking a first set “bagel”.

Kostyuk did finally trouble the scorers at the start of the second, but it proved to be the only game she won on her own serve as Pegula cruised to victory.

Pegula was instrumental in leading the United States to their United Cup triumph two weeks ago, where she beat top-ranked Iga Swiatek in straight sets in the semifinal.

She will face a tough prospect next in 20th seed Krejcikova, who – like Pegula – is yet to drop a set.

“I’ve watched her quite a bit. She’s had a great last couple of years,” said Pegula of the Czech, who also breezed past a Ukrainian.

Krejcikova beat the 39th-ranked Anhelina Kalinina, 6-2, 6-3 in 1hr 26min on Rod Laver Arena.

“I think with every single match I’m getting better and better,” warned Krejcikova.

“My serve was working really well today, I played really good returns and from the baseline. I played also a very solid game. Today was a really, really great match for me.”

Third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas kept his unbeaten streak this year intact on Friday with another romp at the Australian Open to set up a round of 16 clash with dangerous Italian Jannik Sinner.

The 24-year-old, who has yet to drop a set, clinched his seventh straight win of 2023 by beating Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena to coast into the fourth round.

With defending champion Rafael Nadal and world No 3 Casper Ruud both out, Tsitsipas, who won all four games at the United Cup leading into the Grand Slam, is the highest seed left on the men’s side.

His next assignment, for a place in the last eight, is a showdown with Italy’s 15th-seeded Sinner who stormed back to crush Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0.

It will be a rematch of their Melbourne Park quarterfinal last year, which Tsitsipas won in straight sets.

“It was good mixing up today, my slice, opening up the court. I think my placement on the serve was exceptional,” said Tsitsipas.

“I didn’t have a lot of rallies on my serve today, which helped, and I just kept things clean. I enjoyed finding my way through today, it wasn’t easy at times.”

Like Tsitsipas, 63rd-ranked Griekspoor also came into the match unbeaten, on a six-match streak after collecting a maiden Tour-level title in Pune, India.

But he was no match for the surging Greek, a three-time semifinalist at Melbourne Park who is pursuing a first Grand Slam title.

The 24-year-old was in charge in the first set, breaking twice, dominating from the baseline and the net to sweep through in just 28 minutes.

But the Dutchman put up stiffer resistance in the second, earning a set point at 6-5 which Tsitsipas saved to take it to a tiebreak where he kept his cool to prevail.

Griekspoor’s resolve melted and Tsitsipas broke for a 3-1 lead in the third set before racing home.

Sinner, a six-time champion on the ATP Tour, kept his hopes alive with a sensational comeback against Fucsovics, who lost all confidence as the match progressed.

“The first two sets were very tough for me,” said Sinner, who enjoyed straight sets wins in his opening two matches.

“Obviously, I had to change something in my game. I was feeling the ball well but the final shots I was missing. I did a lot of work physically in the off season and today I was physically good in the last sets.”

Barcelona forward Memphis Depay appeared to be on the verge of joining Atletico Madrid as he was spotted wearing the club’s colours while training under manager Diego Simeone on Thursday.

The 28-year-old Dutch international has been linked with a move to Atletico for the last few days, with several reports by the Spanish media suggesting that the deal was close to be done.

Although an official announcement has yet to be made by either club, Depay took part in Thursday’s training with Atletico, a move that the club said was made with the permission of Barcelona as the transfer is expected to be completed in the next few hours.

Although Barcelona are due to face Ceuta in a last-16 Copa del Rey match later on Thursday, Depay was given permission to fly to Madrid. Spanish media reported that after he passed his medical with Atletico, he asked to join his future teammates in the practice field.

Atletico expect that Depay will be available to play as early as Saturday, when they host Valladolid in LaLiga.

Depay joined Barcelona on a free transfer from Olympique Lyonnais in July 2021 and signed a two-year deal.

Spanish media said he would sign a two-year deal with Atletico for a 3 million euros ($3.25 million) transfer fee.

Depay played 42 games for Barcelona, scoring 14 goals, but he fell out of favour with manager Xavi Hernandez after the club signed Polish striker Robert Lewandowski last year.

Arsenal face a stern test of their Premier League title credentials against Manchester United this weekend as Liverpool and Chelsea meet in a clash of two clubs desperate to escape mid-table obscurity.

At the bottom, Frank Lampard takes Everton to face David Moyes’ West Ham, with both managers under intense pressure as the relegation trap door looms.

AFP Sport takes a look at some of the key talking points ahead of the action.

ARSENAL’S TITLE CHARGE

Arsenal v Manchester United used to be the match that defined the Premier League, pitting Arsene Wenger against Alex Ferguson in a rivalry for the ages.

In recent years the game has been reduced to a sideshow, but there is a growing sense leaders Arsenal can end a wait of nearly two decades to be crowned English champions, while United are a rising force under Erik ten Hag.

Mikel Arteta’s young team are now clear favourites to claim Arsenal’s first Premier League crown since the 2004 “Invincibles”.

The Gunners have more points at this stage of a league season than ever before and are benefiting from the stumbles of those beneath them, particularly the inconsistency of champions Manchester City.

Aside from the game against United and a match against City in February, Arsenal’s league fixtures over the next two months look kind.

Even so, Arteta believes a successful title tilt will “demand almost perfection”.

Eight points behind Arsenal, Ten Hag’s men travel to the Emirates Stadium without suspended midfielder Casemiro after the Brazilian was booked in the frustrating midweek draw at Crystal Palace.

LIVERPOOL, CHELSEA IN CLASH OF ALSO-RANS

After nearly two decades of sparring for silverware, the startling declines of Liverpool and Chelsea will be laid bare when they meet at Anfield on Saturday.

Just last season, Liverpool came within touching distance of an unprecedented quadruple, while Chelsea were winners of the Fifa Club World Cup.

Liverpool finished second in the Premier League and Chelsea came third, with the Reds beating the Blues in both the FA Cup and League Cup finals.

Those battles will seem like distant memories this weekend as ninth-placed Liverpool host 10th-placed Chelsea.

Both still harbour faint hopes of climbing into the top four but with injuries hurting Jurgen Klopp’s side and Graham Potter’s team, gatecrashing the race to qualify for the Champions League looks a tough ask.

Klopp has achieved enough in his long reign to keep the critics largely at bay, but Chelsea’s Potter is on shaky ground only four months after replacing the sacked Thomas Tuchel.

Despite a huge spending spree under the club’s new owners, Chelsea had lost seven of their previous 10 matches in all competitions prior to a 1-0 victory against Crystal Palace last weekend.

Potter could give a debut to Ukraine winger Mykhailo Mudryk after his £88 million ($108 million) move from Shakhtar Donetsk as he seeks to find the magic formula.

LAMPARD, MOYES ON BORROWED TIME

Everton manager Frank Lampard and West Ham boss David Moyes are fast running out of time heading into their crunch clash.

Either team could end Saturday at the bottom of the Premier League table depending on Southampton’s result against Aston Villa, and neither will approach the game in London with much confidence.

West Ham have taken just a single point from their past seven league games and Everton have one point from a possible 18.

Rumours have swirled this week that Moyes is likely to be dismissed if he loses the game.

But the Hammers finished seventh last season, also reaching the Europa League semifinals, and Moyes has pleaded for loyalty from fans.

“What we’ve given West Ham supporters in the last few years, I hope they can give us back,” he said.

Former Chelsea boss Lampard, for his part, says he will not “cry” at the pressure he is under.