Luka Modric: Real Madrid midfielder outshining the rest

Recruited by Real Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur for £33m in August 2012, the Croatia midfielder was in danger of being harshly written off as a high-profile, big-money flop.

Appearances were irregular under Jose Mourinho and some Real fans wanted him sold, with readers of the newspaper Marca voting Modric the worst signing of the year. 

Fast forward to the present day and he is indispensable to Carlo Ancelotti, the hard-to-please Bernabeu crowd are chanting his name - they want Modric to wear the prestigious number 10 shirt instead of 19 - and the queue of suitors is growing. They could be waiting a long time.

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Stanislas Wawrinka is the 'real deal' says Pete Sampras

Stanislas Wawrinka beat an injury-hit Rafael Nadal to win the first Grand Slam of his career in the Australian Open final in Melbourne on Sunday.

The Swiss, 28, won the opening set and was a break up in the second when Nadal took an injury timeout.

Wawrinka grew frustrated and lost his concentration as the Spaniard returned to court to win the third set.

But the 28-year-old regained his composure to become only the second Swiss man to win a Grand Slam singles title after 17-time champion Roger Federer.

BBC Sport speaks to the experts to assess the new world number three's performance in Melbourne - and his prospects of consolidating his position in the rankings.

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Red Bull enjoy better fortunes on day two of testing in Bahrain

Sebastian Vettel completed 59 laps in Bahrain on the second day of the second four-day test. Red Bull had done only 24 laps in the previous five days.
The world champion was seventh fastest overall, more than five seconds off the pace set by McLaren's Kevin Magnussen.
Force India's Nico Hulkenberg was second from Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Mercedes' Nico Rosberg.

Why Manchester United could not afford to let Wayne Rooney leave

With projected revenues of £420m this year, there is no question Manchester United can afford to makeWayne Rooney the best paid player in the Premier League.

But many people will be asking this weekend if the 28-year-old is really worth all that money?

To answer that you need to separate his value to United right now from how some might view his broader value in the transfer market.

For all the income they generate, United are a club going through a difficult transition. They are way off the pace in the Premier League and struggling to qualify for the Champions League next season.

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