AT THE HEIGHT of protest over the May 2020 police murder of George Floyd, one of retired NBA star Dwyane Wade's Twitter accounts posted: "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."

The tweet from an athlete celebrated for his social justice advocacy was perfectly in character. The account that it came from, however, promotes Wade's clothing line with Chinese sports apparel company Li-Ning, which the U.S. government has accused of abetting human rights abuses.

Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter Freedom has spent months condemning his NBA brethren for not doing more to draw attention to human rights abuses in China. His efforts are in addition to those of a bipartisan coalition in Congress that has called out NBA players who maintain lucrative contracts with four Chinese companies accused of being complicit in those violations. Li-Ning, Anta, Peak and 361 Degrees -- all of which have NBA stars as reps -- are identified by the U.S. government and human rights groups as using forced labor to produce their goods in China's Xinjiang region. ESPN has identified Wade and at least 17 current NBA players who have such deals.

The U.S. State Department says China is waging a targeted campaign against Muslims in Xinjiang, where more than a million Uyghurs and other minorities are held in detention camps. These groups also face abuses including forced labor, torture, involuntary sterilization, mass surveillance, family separation and repression of religious expression, according to the State Department and human rights groups.

The U.S. government views the abuse as so widespread that it presumes all goods produced in Xinjiang are tainted, unless proven otherwise. Roughly one in five cotton garments sold globally contains material from Xinjiang, and the region produces a significant portion of the world's polysilicon, which is used to make solar panels and smartphones.

"Shame on the athletes that are aware of what is happening -- who have affiliations with brands that get Xinjiang cotton," Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.), co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, told ESPN. "And we don't use the word genocide lightly. ... It is a genocide."

China, which hosts the Beijing Olympics in February and has faced increased scrutiny as a result, denies the accusations. "The so-called 'forced labor' issue is a century-old lie invented by the U.S. and other western institutions and personnel to restrict and suppress relevant Chinese enterprises and contain China's development," Liu Pengyu, a spokesman in China's Washington embassy, told ESPN in a statement.

Nike, Adidas and other well-known brands that employ athlete endorsers across sports have recently moved away from cotton and other products made in Xinjiang following a global outcry. But Chinese companies, which are uniquely interested in NBA players because of the sport's immense popularity in the country, have countered with a patriotic pledge to continue using it. This defiant stance leaves NBA players serving as pitchmen for brands accused of using the slave labor.

That role is at odds with the reputation that the NBA and its players have developed in recent years as social justice leaders and goes against the spirit of a new federal law banning imports from Xinjiang. For the NBA, the controversy only intensifies the difficult crosscurrents it must navigate doing business in basketball-obsessed China, its largest foreign market but one often accused of disregarding human rights.

SINCE THE MID-2000s, more than 50 NBA players have signed deals with Chinese brands eager to capitalize on basketball's popularity in the world's most populous nation. The shoe deals had been business as usual until the Trump administration formally deemed China's actions in Xinjiang a genocide just before leaving office in January 2021. The Biden administration repeated that designation in March.

As the U.S. and other countries grow more vocal in denouncing China's actions in Xinjiang, Congress has repeatedly called upon NBA stars to drop their deals. Those stars include Wade, who initially signed a 10-year, $75 million contract with Li-Ning in 2012 that was later converted into a lifetime agreement in 2018, ahead of Wade's final season. Warriors sharpshooter Klay Thompson signed with Anta Sports in 2014 and re-upped in 2017 on a reported 10-year, $80 million deal. Trail Blazers guard and players' association president CJ McCollum left Nike in 2017 for a richer, five-year agreement with Li-Ning, while the Hornets' Gordon Hayward joined Anta in 2018 on a four-year deal. In 2020, Warriors swingman Andrew Wiggins struck a multiyear deal with Peak, and Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon agreed to a contract with 361 Degrees, making him what the company called "the new face" of its basketball division.

Representatives for those players did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Likewise, other players and many of their representatives refused to speak on the record. "It is such a sensitive topic," said one agent who represents a player who endorses a Chinese brand. "Nobody's going to talk about it."

In June, leaders of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China sent a letter to the National Basketball Players Association, asking officials to "encourage players to end their endorsement deals" with the Chinese brands. Two months later, outgoing NBPA executive director Michele Roberts responded that the union does not endorse the "commission of genocide or crimes against humanity."

Roberts said the union would share lawmakers' concerns with affected players, but several agents representing those with Chinese shoe deals told ESPN the union never alerted them to the request from Washington. Asked about that discrepancy, a union spokesman insisted the information had been passed along.

"The National Basketball Players Association has previously had an impressive track record of using their voice for social change, and I would like to see them do more to raise awareness about the ongoing genocide in Xinjiang and to help their members understand the risks of partnering with companies that promote products made with forced labor," Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, told ESPN. "These sponsorship deals need to end."

Last fall, at the start of the current NBA season, the commission again called out NBA players with ties to Chinese brands in a letter asking Customs and Border Protection officials to ban the products from entering the U.S.

"We are very concerned about the sportswear companies ... which have high-profile endorsements from NBA players," the lawmakers wrote. "We do not want sports stars or other celebrity influencers to knowingly or unwittingly endorse goods made with forced labor."

The government's efforts culminated in a bipartisan bill President Joe Biden signed in December banning the import of goods from Xinjiang. The move came just weeks after the Biden administration announced it would not send an official delegation to the Olympics in Beijing to protest China's human rights abuses. Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia are among the other nations joining in the diplomatic boycott of the Games.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the league has no authority over player endorsements. "Players choose which sportswear companies they partner with, and those partnerships are not subject to approval by the NBA," he said in an email to ESPN.

In recent years, NBA players have been lauded for their social justice activism, with many taking part in protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. But Louisa Greve, director of global advocacy for the Uyghur Human Rights Project, said they risk tarnishing their well-earned reputations when they stand up for human rights at home but ignore them abroad.

"If athletes are speaking up and saying I stand for justice, they cannot be selective and exempt China and an ongoing genocide from their concern," she said.

Silver defended the league and its players, saying it is no surprise that they are most vocal about the issues they know best. "The league and players' track record of leadership in social justice speaks for itself," he said. "I don't believe it's hypocritical that the league and players focus their attention on issues that are closest to home and impact our own communities."

He added that players' popularity in China can help build bridges between nations, even if players choose not to directly address human rights concerns there. "We believe in the importance of engagement and the power of sports to create connections among disparate people," he said, calling the connections "a prerequisite for meaningful dialogue on human rights and other critically important issues."

Wallace Prather, the agent for Atlanta Hawks guard and Peak endorser Lou Williams, described the Chinese brands as lucrative alternatives to U.S. firms like Nike. "These guys have likeness, these guys have celebrity within their own right," Prather said. "They have the ability to capitalize, not only financially but give themselves the chance to have a signature shoe that is going to impact their families, impact a lot of things they are doing. So, anyone who is taking a hard stand against it, I think they should give alternatives of what they should do."

Williams has made more than $85 million in salary over his 16-year NBA career, according to Spotrac, a sports contract database. Some of the top Chinese-brand endorsers have earned considerably more on the court: Wade $196 million, Gordon Hayward $207 million and Thompson -- widely known in China as "China Klay" -- $182 million.

An agent who asked not to be identified suggested that NBA players are being unfairly targeted by Congress for doing business in China, where U.S. corporations -- and athletes across sports who endorse them -- allegedly benefit from a broad range of abusive business practices beyond forced labor.

"As a country, we've become so intertwined with China economically that it is hard to separate," the agent said. "Is Congress telling the Marriotts, the Apples and all the other corporate interests not to do business there?"

IN LATE OCTOBER, about 150 protesters gathered on Washington's National Mall holding signs with slogans such as "Stop Uyghur Genocide" and "Forced Labor Fashion Is Not My Style." They also carried pictures of people they say have been detained in concentration camps in Xinjiang. The crowd cheered and chanted when the Celtics' Freedom emerged from a silver SUV to address them.

"As an NBA athlete it is saddening, disgraceful and disgusting to see [my colleagues] remain silent about China," he said. "And that's why I will not be silent."

Freedom, in social media posts and appearances since October, has repeatedly called out the Chinese government and condemned those he deems complicit in not doing more to oppose Chinese repression. He has tagged some of the sport's biggest stars, including LeBron James and Michael Jordan.

Another speaker at the Washington event was Kalbinur Gheni, a Uyghur whose 39-year-old sister was taken to a Chinese "reeducation" camp in 2018 and later sent to a prison. Gheni said her sister, an art teacher with two children, has been sentenced to 17 years for observing religious rites and for keeping religious books and loaning them to others. Gheni, who studied in Malaysia before moving to the U.S. in 2019, said her sister is among a dozen family members who have been detained in China over the past four years.

"They are using our loved ones in the camp as slave labor," Gheni later told ESPN. "And they are profiting off them.

"When you talk about this NBA business, they should be supportive. It is not because I am a Uyghur, but as a human being. If they keep silent no matter what the Chinese government does, that means they are going to lose for long term their dignity and humanity."

In recent years, the NBA, like many multinational businesses, has struggled to toe the line between upholding democratic values of transparency and free speech, while not running afoul of China's fine-tuned sensitivity to criticism and dissent.

A top executive with a major sports/entertainment agency declined comment on behalf of multiple clients who have Chinese shoe contracts, but privately questioned why the NBA didn't address the China issue head-on three years ago, when Chinese state television network CCTV yanked NBA games off the air following a tweet by then-Rockets GM Daryl Morey in support of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

"This has been almost a festering story -- the partnership with China and the league itself," the executive said. "And also, I think your employer [ESPN] is then a tentacle of that, too. There is this whole knot to untie. And who is where and where our business interests overlap."

ESPN has had a content-sharing partnership with Chinese company Tencent since 2016. Tencent pulled Celtics games off its streaming service after Freedom criticized the government in October. It also stopped showing 76ers games after Morey joined Philadelphia as head of basketball operations. In addition to its partnership with Tencent, ESPN "is a non-voting board observer and owns a small stake" in NBA China, according to an ESPN spokesperson.

Disney, ESPN's parent company, previously faced criticism from human rights activists for filming part of a 2020 live-action remake of "Mulan" in Xinjiang. Disney and other Hollywood studios have also come under fire for editing shows and films for Chinese markets.

The competing pressures facing multinational brands are not likely to end anytime soon. For NBA players with relatively short careers in which they can earn big money, it is easy to rationalize taking the cash, one analyst said.

"It's pretty easy to be on the right side of things when there is not a lot of money involved," Victor Matheson, a sports economist at the College of the Holy Cross, told ESPN. For many players profiting from shoe deals with Chinese firms, the Uyghur genocide may feel remote, he added, an issue to which they may say, "'Sorry, that is not my deal, not my problem.'"

Chamath Palihapitiya, a venture capitalist and part-owner of the Golden State Warriors, again brought attention to the NBA's uneasy relationship with China when he made a similar point bluntly in a recent episode of his podcast, All-In.

"Nobody cares about what's happening to the Uyghurs, OK? ... I'm just telling you ... a very hard, ugly truth. Of all the things I care about, yes, it is below my line." The comments stirred a social media firestorm, and the Warriors distanced themselves from Palihapitiya, who later walked back his comments.

U.S. lawmakers and human rights monitors say NBA stars, given their cultural influence, could make a difference in curbing China's behavior if they chose to walk away from these companies.

"If [Wade] and others said, 'No, I'm not going to do this,' others will follow. This is the kind of pressure that China understands," McGovern told ESPN. He added: "The more there is affiliation with American athletes, American companies and corporations, the more they can get cover for the terrible things that are going on."

Watch the best shots as a "magnificent" Ashleigh Barty becomes the first home player to reach the Australian Open women's singles final in 42 years as she beats Madison Keys in straight sets.

READ MORE: Ashleigh Barty to meet Danielle Collins in Melbourne final

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Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall is taking a "short break due to medical reasons", the club has said.

They currently sit second in the Premiership, eight points behind league leaders Leicester, and travel to Wasps on Sunday.

McCall took on the role in the 2010-11 season and won the Premiership title in his first season.

League titles in 2014-15 and 2017-18 and a Champions Cup victory in 2016-17 followed, as well as two double-winning seasons in 2015-16 and 2018-19.

Saracens were relegated to the Championship for the 2020-21 season for breaching salary cap regulations and won the second tier title that season.

The club said in a statement: "People will always come first at our club and Mark will be given all of the support and time he needs.

"Meanwhile we would ask that everyone respects Mark's privacy.

"Mark is obviously more than confident in the coaching team he has worked with for many years to temporarily take the reins."

LONDON – Britain’s Prince Andrew has given up his honorary membership of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, one of the world’s most prestigious golf clubs, as he fights allegations of sexual abuse that have forced him to retreat from public life.

The club in St. Andrews, Scotland, announced the move Friday, two weeks after Andrew was stripped of his honorary military titles and roles with charitable organizations amid a U.S. civil lawsuit filed by a woman who says she was forced to have sex with Andrew when she was 17.

“I can confirm that the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews has received notification that the Duke of York will relinquish his honorary membership,” the club said in a statement. “We respect and appreciate his decision.”

Andrew, also known as the Duke of York, denies the allegations and has asked for a jury trial in the case filed in federal court in New York.

The decision to remove Andrew’s military titles and charity positions was taken with the “approval and agreement” of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Buckingham Palace said in a statement Jan. 13. The prince stopped performing royal duties two years ago, after a disastrous BBC interview that stoked criticism about his relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen,” the palace said earlier this month.

The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews was founded in 1754 and helped administer the rules of golf for 250 years until that role was handed over to another organization. It remains a private golf club with about 2,400 members worldwide.

Olympic bronze medallist could threaten Peter Elliott’s long-standing mark in the Wanamaker Mile at the 114th Millrose Games on Saturday

In Tokyo last year Josh Kerr became the first British athlete since Peter Elliott in 1988 to win an Olympic medal in the men’s 1500m and now, in the Millrose Games in New York on Saturday (Jan 29), he has a chance of breaking the Yorkshireman’s long-standing UK indoor record for the mile.

Elliott’s mark of 3:52.02 was set at East Rutherford in 1990, a couple of years after he won Olympic 1500m silver in Seoul and just a few days before he captured the Commonwealth 1500m title in Auckland.

The Scottish record, meanwhile, is held by Chris O’Hare with 3:52.91 set in New York in 2016. Right now, Kerr holds the third fastest time in history on the UK rankings with 3:53.65 from New York in 2019, but if everything goes well on Saturday night he could break one or both of those records.

If the pace is super-fast, the runners might even get close to Yomif Kejelcha’s world indoor record of 3.47.01, set in Boston in 2019.

Firstly Kerr has to win the race, though, which won’t be straightforward. Rivals include Ollie Hoare, the Australian who was 11th in the Olympic 1500m final last year, plus Americans Craig Engels and Clayton Murphy.

Watch out for fast-improving American teenager Hobbs Kessler, too, whereas Nick Willis, who is 20 years older at 38, is aiming to run a sub-four-minute mile for the 20th straight year (he narrowly missed the feat in an event a few weeks ago on the stroke of the new year).

Kerr will start favourite, though, after clocking 3:29.05 to finish third behind Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Timothy Cheruiyot in the Olympic 1500m final in Tokyo. Back then Kerr wore Nike shoes, too, despite being a member of the Brooks Beasts team, but in the Millrose Games this weekend he will race in new Brooks spikes for the first time.

The 114th Millrose Games is taking place for the first time in almost two years due to the pandemic and is part of the new World Indoor Tour (Gold) series. For viewers in the UK it will be streamed live too (see the bottom of this article for the link) although some of the events will unfold at gone midnight in the UK.

At the last event in 2020 the performances included Jemma Reekie breaking Laura Muir’s UK indoor 1500m and mile records, while O’Hare won the Wanamaker mile.

READ MORE: Reekie breaks Muir’s 1500m mark at 2020 Millrose Games

This weekend’s meeting looks every bit as exciting with the men’s 60m one of the most intriguing events on the programme.

It features the controversial return of Christian Coleman following an 18-month ban for breaking anti-doping rules relating to missed tests. The American holds the world indoor 60m record and is reigning world 100m champion but will the fastest man in 2021, Trayvon Bromell, plus world 200m champion Noah Lyles and Olympic 100m finalist Ronnie Baker.

The women’s mile will be as hotly-anticipated as the men’s race, largely due to the entry of Olympic 800m champion Athing Mu after the American youngster switched from the 800m to the longer distance. Relatively untested over the mile and better known as an 800/400m runner, she will have a tough challenge, though, as she faces Elle Purrier St Pierre, who ran 4:16.85 at Millrose two years ago to break the American record.

Indeed, the top four from the US Trials 1500m – Purrier St Pierre, Cory McGee, Heather MacLean, Shannon Osika – are all set to race in addition to Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen and Australia Jessica Hull.

Elsewhere, 800m runner Donavan Brazier steps down to 400m looking to revise his PB of 46.91 and beat 400m specialists such as Vernon Norwood and Christopher Taylor in the process.

Ryan Crouser, the Olympic shot put champion and world record-holder indoors and out, is the pick of the field eventers as he opens his 2022 campaign. The women’s pole vault is also high quality with Olympic champion Katie Nageotte taking on Sandi Morris among others.

In the women’s long jump, Tara Davis takes on a number of fellow US jumpers plus Britain’s Olympic finalist Jazmin Sawyers.

Cole Hocker, the US Olympic trials 1500m winner, tackles the 3000m against fellow former NCAA champions like Geordie Beamish, Wesley Kiptoo, Cooper Teare, Conner Mantz, Mason Ferlic. Look out too for Britain’s Charles Hicks and James West, not to mention the talented Drew Hunter and Nico Young.

In the women’s 3000m the European indoor champ Amy-Eloise Markovc of Britain opens her season with fellow Brit Holly Archer also in the field.

Timetable and startlists – CLICK HERE

With all sports thriving on gripping rivalries, the future of men's tennis looks to have an exciting future with Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

On Friday, Russian second seed Medvedev beat fourth seed Tsitsipas 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-4 6-1 in their Australian Open semi-final.

It is the second successive year that Medvedev has beaten Tsitsipas in the Melbourne last four, extending his dominant record over the Greek to seven wins from their nine career meetings.

The opening three sets were high quality, packed with gripping rallies as each player tried to gain the upper hand.

But attention also turned to a dramatic outburst from Medvedev, who complained his opponent was receiving on-court coaching - which is not allowed - from his father Apostolos.

"I wasn't getting coaching," insisted Tsitsipas. "It's funny. I don't pay attention to the stuff.

"I know players like to do this stuff to throw you off mentally. It could maybe be a tactic. It's alright. He's not the most mature person anyway."

Tsitsipas, 23, played at a high level in the opening two sets, with Medvedev's rant at umpire Jaume Campistol coming during the changeover after he lost serve to go 5-4 down in the second set.

Medvedev demanded the official issue a code violation to Tsitsipas, saying he thought his opponent might have been taking instructions from his father in Greek.

Afterwards, Medvedev said he wasn't accusing Tsitsipas of cheating.

"Not at all," said Medvedev. "I got broken, I got a little bit mad. I thought the referee could do a little bit better with the crowd, just to say: 'Quiet, please'.

"Before every return his father was talking Greek. I don't know what his father is saying. Maybe he's just saying: 'Let's go, next point'. It's completely allowed. There is no problem with it.

"But he's saying something in Greek just before I return, and I feel like he's even telling him where to serve. I don't know. I don't know Greek."

After airing his grievances and surviving break points in the opening game of the third set, Medvedev settled down back into the match.

He retook the lead in what proved to be the final game of the third with his first break opportunity of the set.

At the start of the fourth set, Greek umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore was positioned underneath where Tsitsipas's coaching team were sat. Moments later, Campistol did issue a violation code for on-court coaching.

From that point at 1-1, Tsitsipas did not win another game as he quickly faded away.

Afterwards, Tsitsipas said he felt he is being unfairly targeted by umpires as a result of his reputation.

"I'm used to it. I feel like I've got a few in the past, and the umpires are always paying attention to my box, never paying attention to the opponent's box," he said.

"I feel I have been a victim of that for a long time now.

"I don't think the referees will ever understand that I cannot hear anything when I'm playing."

Medvedev stressed his complaints were "nothing against Stefanos", while Tsitsipas called his opponent a "great competitor" and said he respected how the Russian could run "like a marathon runner".

Although Tsitsipas added he was unsure how sustainable that style will be - pointing out the "huge impact" it has had on the bodies of other Grand Slam champions - it seems the pair are destined for a long, fraught and entertaining rivalry.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Chip-ins from Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton fueled their surge into contention at the Dubai Desert Classic on Friday.

The player they’ll try to catch over the weekend is Justin Harding, whose own spectacular shot in the second round came from much further out.

McIlroy and Hatton took advantage of beautiful conditions at Emirates Golf Club to shoot 6-under 66s – tied for the lowest scores of the day – and climb onto the leaderboard in the $8 million Rolex Series event on the DP World Tour.

A chip-in eagle at No. 13 and a 22-foot putt for birdie at the last were the highlights of a bogey-free round for the No. 8-ranked McIlroy, who moved into a tie for fifth on 7 under overall.

“Could have been way lower,” the four-time major winner said. “I certainly hit the ball as good as I have in a long time.”

Hatton sent in a chip from 34 yards at No. 13 that landed at the front of the green, took one more bounce and skipped straight into the cup for the last of his seven birdies. He was alone in second place on 9 under.

Harding was the only player ahead of Hatton after a day when he played 19 holes and birdied No. 18 twice.

The No. 122-ranked South African returned to the Majlis course early to complete his first round with a tap-in birdie at the last to join JB Hansen in a tie for the lead on 7-under 65. Harding then shot a 68 to move ahead outright on 11 under overall, finishing Friday with a two-stroke lead.

He also birdied the last, from 22 feet, and burst out laughing after holing out for eagle from 183 yards from the middle of the fairway at the par-4 sixth hole.

“The cameraman actually said, ‘I like it,’” Harding said. “I thought he was joking. It was just a good swing.”

Harding has two wins on tour, in Qatar in 2019 and Kenya last year.

“Game seems to be close,” he said. “Just a matter if I can control the putter and make some putts.”

Erik van Rooyen (67) and Fabrizio Zanotti (70) were tied for third place, three shots off the lead.

Hansen was one of the few players high up the leaderboard to fail to shoot under par on a calm day in Dubai that led to a bunch of low scores. The Dane shot even-par 72 and was tied with McIlroy, Viktor Hovland (69), Richard Bland (68) and Adrian Meronk (68) in fifth.

Collin Morikawa, the world No. 2, will also be playing the weekend but still has to work to do to find his best game. A round of 73 ended with the 24-year-old Californian making par at No. 18 after a tame birdie putt – and flinging his ball into the water.

Morikawa was 3 under overall, eight strokes off the lead.

Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is one of the players Barcelona are considering as a short-term solution to their goal-scoring problems, as a deal for Juventus striker Alvaro Morata is looking unlikely, sources have told ESPN.

Arsenal are open to Aubameyang's departure in January after his relationship soured with coach Mikel Arteta, but only if the majority of his £250k-per-week wages are covered. Ideally, sources have told ESPN the North London club would sign a replacement, although this is not understood to be a deal-breaker.

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In addition to Barca's interest, Juventus and Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal have also been linked with Aubameyang.

Barca boss Xavi Hernandez wants to add a forward to his squad before the transfer window closes on Monday, but any arrivals will depend on winger Ousmane Dembele either signing a contract extension or moving elsewhere.

ESPN first reported in December that Morata was the club's first-choice attacking target, but they have so far been unable to strike a deal for the Spain international.

Morata, 29, is on loan at Juventus from Atletico Madrid, and any transfer would require the go-ahead from both clubs. However, Atletico are battling with Barca for a place in the top four in LaLiga and are reluctant to strengthen a direct rival.

Sources have told ESPN that Atletico would be open to a permanent deal, with Morata out of contract in 2023, but Barca want a temporary solution. Therefore, Barca are exploring other options, including alternatives in addition to just Aubameyang.

Aubameyang, 32, has not featured for Arsenal since Dec. 6. He has been offered to Barca previously, but the club have prioritised other players. However, ESPN sources have said the situation with Morata has led them to contemplate a move for the Gabon international this time.

Xavi is also keen to bring in a left-back -- with Ajax's Nicolas Tagliafico among the club's targets -- but the priority is adding more goals to the team after forward Ansu Fati was ruled out for two months.

Ansu's hamstring injury comes after striker Sergio Aguero's retirement and with uncertainty continuing to surround the future of Dembele, who is out of contract this summer.

Any more incomings at Camp Nou this month will be dependent on player exits. The club are operating on a LaLiga-imposed spending limit of €97 million for the season and can invest only 25% of what they save on new players.

They have already signed Dani Alves and Ferran Torres in January, with the latter registered with LaLiga after Philippe Coutinho's move to Aston Villa and Samuel Umtiti's wage cut.

Barca also expect to complete the signing of Adama Traore from Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Traore, who came through Barca's youth system, will arrive initially on loan and has accepted a low salary until the end of the season, with sources telling ESPN it will enable Barca to register the Spain winger with the league.

If Dembele leaves before Monday -- or even if he signs an extension -- that would free up enough salary-cap space to add another forward and potentially a full-back.

Dembele's contract expires in June, and he has so far turned down Barca's offers to extend. Barca have told him that if he does not sign a new contract, he must find a new club before Jan. 31. The player's agent, Moussa Sissoko, has been in the Catalan city this week for discussions to try to find a solution to the stalemate.

Information from ESPN FC's James Olley and Eduardo Fernandez-Abascal contributed to this report.

Derby County boss Wayne Rooney has said he turned down an opportunity from Premier League side Everton to interview for their vacant manager's position.

Everton have been without a manager since Rafa Benitez was sacked earlier this month after a disappointing six months in charge at Goodison Park.

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Rooney, 36, said on Friday his agent was contacted by his former club but he turned the approach down to focus on Derby.

"Everton approached my agent and asked me to interview for the job," Rooney said.

"But I turned it down. I believe I will be a Premier League manager and I am ready for that 100%. But I have a job at Derby, which is important to me."

Derby sit 23rd in the Championship, eight points adrift of safety, after being deducted 21 points by the EFL: 12 points for entering administration, or proceedings to mitigate financial insolvency, and a further nine points in November for historical breaches of financial rules under former owner Mel Morris.

Rooney has previously told ESPN keeping Derby up would be his "biggest achievement in football."

Sources told ESPN earlier this month that Roberto Martinez is the leading candidate to replace Benitez as Everton manager, while Frank Lampard and Vitor Pereira are also understood to be on the shortlist.