The heaviest spending as European football's transfer window closed on Monday was not by traditional powers but mid-ranking English clubs Stoke and Everton collectively paying around $45 million on two players.

Stoke made the biggest outlay of the window with the 18.3 million pound ($26 million) signing of defensive midfielder Giannelli Imbula shortly after Everton spent 13.5 million pounds ($19.5 million) on forward Oumar Niasse.

San Antonio improved to 26-0 on home court this season by beating Orlando 107-92 on Monday, led by season-high 28 points from LaMarcus Aldridge.

The Spurs edged within four games of Golden State in the fight over the top seed in the NBA Western Conference. They also stayed four games ahead of Oklahoma City, which beat Washington thanks to a triple double from Russell Westbrook.

Denver general manager and former All-Star John Elway realizes as well as anyone just how difficult a decision it is for an elite quarterback to retire, and he has no plans of putting pressure on Peyton Manning to make up his mind.

Heading into this weekend's Super Bowl, the Broncos are still not sure if this will be the last game for 39-year-old Manning.

Misfiring Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko has added to Roma's injury crisis after being ruled out of the matchday squad for their league trip to Sassuolo on Tuesday.

Roma claimed their first win in five league games with a 3-1 defeat of Frosinone on Saturday, their first under new coach Luciano Spalletti.

Pep Guardiola is a perfectionist who has won more major trophies than virtually any other coach in Europe.

He starred in one dream team and now lusts to control another.

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and his predecessor Sandro Rosell refused to testify before a judge on Monday for suspected irregularities in the transfer of Brazilian star Neymar.

The pair instead insisted on the version of events they had given for a previous hearing, according to judicial sources.

Outgoing Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola will take over from Manuel Pellegrini at Manchester City on a three-year deal from the end of the season, the English club announced Monday.

"Manchester City can confirm that in recent weeks it has commenced and finalized contractual negotiations with Pep Guardiola to become MCFC head coach for the 2016/17 EPL season onwards," the club said in a statement.

Kicking a bright yellow football on a gravel-covered Kabul hilltop, an Afghan boy whose pictures in a plastic Lionel Messi jersey went viral evinced excitement Monday at the prospect of meeting the Barcelona star.

Five-year-old Murtaza Ahmadi shot to global fame after his brother posted pictures of him dressed in the blue-and-white-striped plastic shirt with Messi's name scrawled in marker pen on Facebook in mid-January.

In the mountains of northwestern Iran, Farnaz Esmaeilzadeh clings to a sheer rock face, ignoring the dizzying height and icy wind as she searches for the next handhold.

The 27-year-old, who has been rock climbing since she was 13, has distinguished herself in international competitions despite the barriers she faces as a female athlete in conservative Iran.

Novak Djokovic has a new goal for the year. He calls it the Djoker Slam.

The No. 1-ranked player has one thing missing from his fast-growing collection of 11 Grand Slam trophies.