14/08/2026

SPORTS

SPORTS FRIDAY | AUG 14, 2026

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Barca push for Rodri Improved bid puts Spanish champions closer to Man City deal B ARCELONA have stepped up their pur suit of Manchester City midfielder Rodri with an improved offer, but the two clubs remain apart on the valua indicated that he expects Rodri back in Manchester despite the transfer speculation. Asked about the midfielder’s immediate future, Maresca said: “Yes, at the moment he will be in Manchester. There is no update. On Aug 14 he will be back.”

SIDENETTING

Lukaku seals Fenerbahce move BELGIUM STRIKER Romelu Lukaku has com pleted a move to Turkish giants Fenerbahce from Napoli. The 33-year-old endured an injury-hit cam paign last season, making just seven appearances in all competitions for the Serie A club. Belgium’s record goalscorer is returning to Turkey, where he spent part of his childhood dur ing the 1996/97 season while his father, Roger, was playing professionally for Super Lig side Genclerbirligi. “It’s an honour and a privilege to be joining your club,” Lukaku said in a video posted on social media for Fenerbahce fans. “I am fit, 100%, ready to go. It is an emotional moment after many years to be going back to Turkey where I lived as a young kid, where I dis covered the professional world as a toddler with my dad.” Fenerbahce did not disclose the transfer fee or the length of Lukaku’s contract. Despite his fitness problems last season, the former Chelsea, Everton and Manchester United striker scored three goals for Belgium at this sum mer’s World Cup. Lukaku arrives in Turkey with an impressive collection of honours. He has won the Belgian championship with Anderlecht, the Fifa Club World Cup with Chelsea, and the Serie A title with both Inter Milan and Napoli. The move also sees Lukaku become the sec ond former Manchester United forward to join Fenerbahce this summer, following Mason Greenwood’s arrival from Marseille. Fenerbahce have finished runners-up to city rivals Galatasaray in each of the last four seasons and are looking to end a long wait for domestic success, having last won the Turkish league title in 2014. Xavi takes Netherlands job FORMER Barcelona manager Xavi has been appointed head coach of the Netherlands on a four-year deal, becoming the first non-Dutch coach to lead the national team since Austrian Ernst Happel stepped down in 1978. The 46-year-old, who played for Barcelona and Spain, replaces Ronald Koeman, who resigned after the Netherlands were knocked out by Morocco in the last 32 at this summer’s World Cup. “I consider it a tremendous honour to become head coach of the Dutch national team,” Xavi said. “As someone who received his training at Barca’s academy, with strong influences from Johan Cruyff and Rinus Michels, among others, I feel a special connection to Dutch football. “You could say that I am partly a son of Dutch football.” Xavi also credited Louis van Gaal and Frank Rijkaard with helping shape him as a player and coach. His first match will come against Jurgen Klopp’s Germany on Sept 24 in the Nations League. Former Liverpool manager Arne Slot held talks over the position but withdrew from the process because he wants his next role to be in club foot ball.

Barcelona’s interest has also prompted City to examine a more expensive alternative. Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez is report edly among their preferred replacements, although Chelsea are believed to value the Argentina international at around £120 million (RM624m). That price could make a direct replacement difficult, particularly after City’s heavy spending on Anderson and Bouaddi. For Barcelona, meanwhile, Rodri would pro vide experience, defensive security and control in midfield as they look to maintain their posi tion at the top of Spanish football. The player’s desire to return home could ulti mately prove crucial, but Barcelona must still convince City to lower their asking price. With the two sides now negotiating over a figure significantly higher than Barcelona’s original proposal, the transfer appears to be moving towards a decisive stage. For City, the choice is becoming clearer: accept a substantial fee this summer or retain one of the world’s best midfielders for another season and risk losing him without compensa tion when his contract expires. – The Independent

tion of the Spain captain. The Spanish champions have submitted a second bid worth about £51 million (RM265m), potentially including add-ons, after City rejected an initial offer of around £38.5 million (RM200m). City are understood to want at least £60 mil lion (RM312m) for the 30-year-old, while another report puts their valuation closer to £70 million (RM364m). Rodri is reportedly keen on returning to Spain and his preference is understood to be Barcelona, ahead of Real Madrid. His agent has confirmed that the midfielder has chosen Barcelona, although the clubs still have to settle the transfer fee. The midfielder has entered the final year of his Manchester City contract, increasing the pressure on the English club to decide whether to sell now or risk losing him for nothing next summer. City manager Enzo Maresca has publicly LIONEL MESSI (pic) has admitted he is “not sure” how much longer he will play football after the passing of his father. Messi’s father, Jorge, died at the age of 68 last week after battling with a long illness. Jorge was highly influential in Messi’s career, having also been his agent since the Argentinian was 14, overseeing his rise into arguably the greatest footballer of all time. In an emotional tribute, Messi said he didn’t know how to “carry on” playing without his father, which could spell retirement for the 39 year-old. “I don’t know what I’m going to do without you,” Messi wrote on Instagram . “I don’t know how to carry on. I used to just play football, and now I’m really not sure if I’ll carry on doing it for much longer. “You were by my side from the beginning; there was so little left until the end. Why couldn’t you hold on just a little longer so we could finish it together?” Messi guided Argentina to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar but was unable to emulate that achievement this summer, with La Albiceleste succumbing to an extra-time defeat to Spain in the final. This was expected to be the end of the road for Messi’s international career, with manager Lionel Scaloni casting further doubt on his future with Argentina in a tearful post-final press con ference. Messi was still set to continue playing club football with Inter Miami for some years, having

Rodri is returning after undergoing minor back surgery following Spain’s World Cup tri umph. The midfielder captained his country to the title and was named the tournament’s Golden Ball winner, adding to the Ballon d’Or he won in 2024. His importance to City is difficult to over state. Former manager Pep Guardiola once described him as “unbelievable, irreplaceable” and “the best midfielder in the world by far.” City are already preparing for the possibility of losing their midfield anchor. They have signed England international Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for £116 million and are close to a deal for Lille teenager Ayyoub Bouaddi. Anderson, who impressed during England’s World Cup campaign, has welcomed the pros pect of playing alongside Rodri but accepts that his future remains uncertain. penned a contract extension with the MLS club until 2028 last autumn. But as the Argentine superstar mourns the loss of his father, it remains to be seen whether Messi will choose to prolong his playing career any further. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner returned home with his family after Jorge passed away in a hospital in his hometown of Rosario, Argentina. He missed Inter Miami’s defeat to Monterrey, during which his teammates wore black

Messi drops retirement hint after father’s passing █ BY WILL CASTLE

A private funeral took place on Sunday at a cemetery in the town of Perez, on the outskirts of Rosario. Messi’s tribute continued: “Dad, I still can’t believe you’re gone. It hasn’t sunk in, or rather, I don’t want it to.

“It’s so hard for me to imagine that I’ll never see you again, that we’ll never talk again. “I know you

were suffering and that this is for the best, but you left too soon. We still had so much left to enjoy together.” – The Independent

armbands a n d Rodr igo De Paul paid trib ute with his goal celebration.

Mercedes braced for double F1 penalty woe

MERCEDES have admitted it is “almost inevitable” they will have to take grid penalties in the second half of this Formula 1 season. The Silver Arrows won eight of the first 11 Grands Prix and that has put them in a strong position to win both titles, as they are 72 points clear of Ferrari while Kimi Antonelli has a healthy 50-point lead over nearest chal lenger Lewis Hamilton. But those leads would have been more significant had they not suffered so many reliability problems. They have gone through more engine parts than

(Antonelli, Kimi’s father) when we want to take an engine penalty in Monza. Baku is also one (possibility).” He also suggested it would “maybe take the pressure off” Antonelli at his home race, if he knew he was starting with a grid penalty. Antonelli’s record behind the wheel of F1 cars at the Italian Grand Prix circuit is not strong. He made his weekend debut there with an FP1 appearance in 2024 but crashed on his first flying lap, while he finished an unspectacular ninth in his first Monza race last year. – Express Newspapers

incur penalties when needed. They tend to choose circuits where overtaking is more possible, to give their drivers the best chance of coming back through the field and limiting the damage done by a penalty. One of them is Monza and, despite it being Italian Antonelli’s home race, Wolff said he could consider taking a penalty there regardless. “There could be one (race) that can be very special for Kimi, but on paper looks like it’s a good place to take an engine penalty,” the Austrian said. “So we need to speak to Marco

got half a season to do. “Kimi’s on his fourth set of bits, so the next ones incur penalties, and George is on his third, in the first half of the year.” Drivers are restricted to a maximum of four internal combustion engines per season, while there are also annual lim its on how many other engine compo nents can be used. Going beyond those allowances trig gers automatic grid penalties for the first event at which the new parts are put on the car. Team often try to be tactical in terms of where and when they deliberately

they would have liked and the unfortu nate side-effect of that situation will likely come back to bite them in the sec ond half of the campaign. Toto Wolff said he hopes Mercedes can avoid having to take a grid drop, though his deputy Bradley Lord is not so optimistic. “I think, looking at how many we’ve used in the first half of the season, it’s almost inevitable that at some point there will be penalties to take,” he said. “It’s realistically going to be hard to get to the end of the season on the existing hardware that we’ve got. We’ve