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Barcelona and Benfica produced a classic that swung from the sublime to the ridiculous. We hand out honours and dishonours from the latest round of action

Barcelona

• Plan would come into effect for 2026-27 season
• Tiers three and four would expand to 14 teams

Allowing B teams from Women’s Super League and Championship clubs to play in the Women’s National League has been put forward as part of plans to restructure tiers three to six of the English women’s pyramid from the 2026-27 season.

A detailed proposal by the Football Association also includes the expansion of the regional leagues in tiers three and four to 14 teams per division and the introduction of a playoff system to increase the number of teams promoted and relegated between tiers three and four and four and five.

• Transfer and loan deals have come to nothing
• Rashford has not played since 12 December

Marcus Rashford accepts he may have to stay at Manchester United for the rest of the season after failing to secure a move in the first three and a half weeks of the transfer window. Eleven full days of the window remain and the forward is intent on making himself available for as long as he is at the club.

Rashford has not played for United since 12 December and five days later said he was “ready for a new challenge” after Ruben Amorim left him out of the squad for the 2-1 win at Manchester City. Rashford has no issue with Amorim, who has said the England international was dropped for “training reasons”, and would be happy to play for United again.

The Wales international, one of five players to have joined the WSL club in this window, talks about leaving Manchester United and the Euros

After five and a half years with Manchester United, moving clubs was never going to be pain-free for Hayley Ladd. But playing less than 10 minutes of Women’s Super League football for United this season, and knowing she needed a transfer to play more regularly before July’s European Championship, means the 31-year-old is now all smiles after her debut for Everton.

Her fresh start on Merseyside coincides with a new era for the club after The Friedkin Group’s takeover and she says it was an easy decision. “The owners came in the other day and presented [to Everton’s women’s team],” Ladd says. “That was really impressive. It’s nice to hear that commitment from the owners and also build a relationship with them personally.

• Forward’s arrival takes City’s January outlay to £122.5m
• Milan have option to buy Walker at end of the season

Manchester City have confirmed the signing of Omar Marmoush for €70m (£59.1m) plus €5m in add-ons from Eintracht Frankfurt and have agreed to loan Kyle Walker to Milan, who have an option to buy the defender in summer.

Marmoush, who has a four-and-a-half-year contract, is the Premier League champions’ third acquisition of the window. He follows the defenders Vitor Reis, bought from Palmeiras for £29.6m, and Abdukodir Khusanov, signed for £33.8m from Lens, taking City’s spend to £122.5m.

• Sunderland want to keep captain for promotion run-in
• Ipswich sign Brighton’s Julio Enciso on loan

West Ham are tracking the Sunderland midfielder Dan Neil but face a challenge to seal a deal this month. Sunderland are pushing for automatic promotion from the Championship and are unlikely to want to lose their captain, who also has interest from Everton. The 23-year-old is valued at about £15m. Sunderland are fourth, four points behind second-placed Sheffield United.

West Ham do not have extensive funds, with meeting the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability regulations a factor in recruitment decisions, but have shown a willingness to invest in talent for the future.

Today’s tittle-tattle is a HDMI cable in a Scart world

Canny armchair scouts have observed that Southampton’s Tyler Dibling looks a fair bit like his true level may lie above that of a side that only has six points from 22 Premier League games this season. If Chelsea, Tottenham, Aston Villa, Liverpool or Leipzig – all linked to the 18-year-old midfielder this month – want him, that’ll be £55m please.

Enzo Maresca’s chances of attracting the midfielder may depend on how put out the player was by limited chances offered up at under-18s level in his brief spell at the club in 2022. Saints, understandably, would very much like to postpone losing they key asset until what’s looking likely to be a turbulent summer.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini, Jonathan Fadugba and Barney Ronay to discuss the Champions League action

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