Bent: Everton have agreed a two-million-pound fee with Charlton for striker Marcus Bent. Bent joined Everton from Ipswich Town for £450,000 in 2004 and scored seven goals last season when the club finished fourth in the Premier League.

Zidane: Zinedine Zidane says his hat-trick in Real Madrid's 4-2 win over Sevilla on Sunday was proof that both he and the team are recovering their form after a disappointing start to the season. "You can see that little by little we are getting better and we are on our way to being the old Real Madrid," he said.

Beckham: Juan Ramon Lopez Caro has praised David Beckham's commitment to Real Madrid after Sven-Goran Eriksson suggested in a tabloid sting the midfielder was keen to quit the Primera Liga side. "As a professional Beckham gets 12 out of 10," Real coach Lopez Caro said. "As a footballer we all know what he is capable of and I see things completely differently from Eriksson."

Clemente: Athletic Bilbao coach Javier Clemente said yesterday that his comments about Samuel Eto'o after the Barcelona striker spat at one of his players were not intended to be racist. Clemente criticised Eto'o's behaviour after TV pictures showed him spitting at defender Unai Exposito in Barca's 2-1 victory over Bilbao. "Spitting is ugly behaviour," Clemente told a post-match news conference. "I thought it was something that people who had just come down out of the trees did."

Balakov: Former Bulgarian international Krasimir Balakov has been appointed coach of Grasshoppers Zurich. The 39-year-old Balakov, who led Bulgaria to the semi-finals of the 1994 World Cup finals in the US, signed a one-and-a-half year contract.

In Scotland: FA Cup 3rd round replay - Ayr v Inverness 0-2.