Alexandre Pato is close to joining Chelsea from Corinthians, multiple sources have told ESPN.

Former AC Milan forward Pato, 26, has confirmed he is interested in moving to the Premier League this winter and ESPN FC has been told that Chelsea are in advanced talks with the forward's agent.

Chelsea interim manager Guus Hiddink is keen to bring in a new striker during this month's transfer window as the Premier League champions have struggled for goals this season and Pato has emerged as the club's top target.

Sources told ESPN Brasil that Pato has verbally agreed a deal and he is set to sign a contract worth €2.3 million (£1.77m) a year with the West London club.

Leyton Hewitt has played the last singles match of his tennis career, losing to David Ferrer in the second round of the Australian Open.

Former world number one Hewitt, who won two Grand Slam titles, was beaten 6-2 6-4 6-4 by the Spaniard.

"I left nothing in the locker room. My whole career I've given 100%," said the 34-year-old Australian.

The much-awaited 2016 Premier League season is set for Febraury 20 pending approval by the Executive Committee of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) today.

Initially slated for September 29 last year, the start of the competition has been impeded by countless litigations with that of Techiman City and Wa Africa United as the most prominent.

Earlier Tema Youth had challenged the qualification of Dreams FC to the Premier League, claiming two of their players, Daniel Gonza and Cudjoe Mensah, were registered under dubious circumstances. The matter was dragged all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) which dismissed Youth’s claim.

A Kumasi-based sports administrator, Jonathan Abbey Pobee, has described the appointment of Nii Lante Vanderpuye as a shade too late for him to salvage the dwindling fortunes of sports in the country.

He said while the lesser sports, such as tennis, hockey, cricket, boxing, athletics and basketball, among others, were retrogressing at an alarming rate due to lack of government’s financial support, football at the senior level especially, was receiving all the needed attention and resources without providing the requisite silverware expected of it.

“The new sports minister has been a sportsman almost all his life but we cannot get the best out of him at this particular time. This is because his appointment has come at the wrong time.

“With his expertise and experience in sports over the years, as well as his revolutionary instincts, he should have been the first person to be appointed sports minister under the Mahama administration, so I wonder why the Preside

Britain's Andy Murray swept past home hope Sam Groth to reach the third round of the Australian Open.

The Scot, seeded number two, dismantled the Australian's big serve to win 6-0 6-4 6-1 in one hour and 30 minutes.

Groth, 28, has the fastest serve ever recorded to his name at 163mph, but was broken in his first four service games as Murray totally dominated.

Barcelona and Argentina defender Javier Mascherano has appeared in court aiming to avoid going to prison over a 1.5m euros (£1.1m) tax fraud.

Mascherano, 31, previously admitted two counts of fraud after failing to declare earnings in 2011 and 2012.

A judge will now rule if Mascherano can pay an increased fine to avoid jail, according to reports in Spain. 

He is alleged to have attempted to conceal earnings from his image rights by using companies he owns abroad.

Defending champions Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams cruised into the Australian Open third round, but sixth seed Petra Kvitova was knocked out.

Women's number one, Williams, thrashed Taiwan's Hsieh Su-Wei 6-1 6-2 while men's top seed, Djokovic, beat France's Quentin Halys 6-1 6-2 7-6 (7-3).

Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova also made it through safely.

African Nations Championship host, Rwanda, booked their place in the quarter-finals of the tournament with a 2-1 win over Gabon at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali yesterday.

Striker Ernest Sugira scored both goals in the 42nd and 47th minutes to put the hosts comfortably ahead before Gabon pulled one back in the 55th minute through Aaron Boupendza.

The win is Amavubi’s second in the 2016 CHAN, following their 1-0 victory over Ivory Coast on the opening day, and ensures that they will finish in the top two of Group A. However, they were given some scares in the final quarter of the match by a 10-man Panthers team that simply refused to give in.

Table tennis top seed, Derek Abrefa, will defend his title during the National Top 8 tournament at the Accra Stadium Tennis Court on Saturday.

Abrefa, who won last year’s competition, would be joined by fellow national greats such as Felix Lartey, Emmanuel Commey, Bernard Joe Sam, Jacob Saikom, Emmanuel Asante, Ernest Mawutor and Ishmael Addy after their qualification from the four invitational justifiers.

The announcement of the date was made yesterday during the launch of this year’s competition at the Accra Stadium.

Ghana's 1965 African Cup of Nations winning team last Tuesday received GH¢51,000 from Prolux Ghana Limited, being a pledge made by the electronic appliance company.

The CEO of Prolux, Prosper Kwame Appiah, made the pledge last December at the 50th anniversary dinner held in honour of the 1965 Black Stars squad at the Sun Lodge Hotel in Accra.

His company joins the likes of Black Stars’ Captain Asamoah Gyan ($13,000), NPP Presidential Aspirant, Nana Akufo-Addo (GH¢25,000), MD of Kofata Motors, Young Kofata (GH¢15,000), Mr Osei Kwame Despite of the Despite Group of Companies (GH¢80,000) and the Founder of Glorious Waves Church International, Prophet Emmanuel Badu Kobi ($10,000) who have fulfilled their promises to the former Black Stars players.

Hat-trick hero Chisom Chikatara, midfielder Usman Mohammed and defender Orji Kalu, have pushed for starting shirts with Nigeria’s Super Eagles at the CHAN on the strength of their displays against Niger, officials have disclosed.

Chikatara came off the bench in the 58th minute to replace the hugely ineffective Tunde Adeniji and he showed his class with three well-taken goals and could even have scored more against Mena.

He has done more than enough to lead the Eagles strike force against Tunisia next Friday afternoon.

Usman Mohammed did more in the 20 minutes he was on the pitch than the older and more experienced Bartholomew ‘Mosquito’ Ibenegbu produced in 70 minutes.

Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet signed a new contract with the club until 2021 yesterday, but the news did not go down well with all of the Merseyside faithful on social media, with many questioning the club's decision.

The Belgian stopper has come in for criticism on numerous occasions this season for some error prone displays.

Mignolet, 27, joined the Reds from Sunderland in 2013 for £9m and has made 122 appearances for the Anfield club.

Borussia Dortmund will allow Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to leave the club if their valuation of £53.5m is met, a top Spanish journalist has claimed.

 The Bundesliga top scorer, who has a return of 17 goals in 18 games this season, has been the subject of a reported £44.6m approach from Premier League leaders Arsenal this window.

Former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers revealed the club's owners thought Mario Balotelli was a "£50million player" that they could bring in for cheap and develop.

Rodgers, who was sacked in October last year, signed Balotelli with the money Liverpool received from the sale of Luis Suarez to Barcelona.

The Italian striker cost the club £16million but was one of the Rodgers' last options after he failed to sign Alexis Sanchez.

"We played AC Milan in a friendly in America because what we needed was a replacement for a player who could press from the top end of the field," he told Sky's Goals last Sunday programme.

West Ham striker Diafra Sakho had his £200,000 Lamborghini Huracan "written off" after crashing into a wall in east London last Monday night.

The incident, which happened in the Emerson Park/Hornchuch area close to Sakho's home, saw the Senegalese collide with an oncoming Mini Cooper and career into a wall at about 9pm