Barcelona, Man City reach agreement to sign star midfielder Rodri

Barcelona [Spain], August 17 (ANI): Barcelona have reached an agreement in principle to sign Manchester City star Rodri, various sources confirmed to ESPN.

Barcelona’s previous two bids for Rodri had failed, but the La Liga champions made a third offer over the weekend with a total package of 76.5 million pounds (65.3 million USD). Sources confirmed to ESPN on Sunday that a deal had been brokered between the two clubs, paperwork exchanged, and now the agreement is being finalised. mchezo.co.za

Rodri, 30, is expected to arrive in Barcelona in the coming days and could be presented as a player before Wednesday’s Joan Gamper Trophy match against Al Ahly at Camp Nou.

The agreement for the Ballon d’Or winner came shortly after sources told ESPN that fullback Joao Cancelo is also set to return to Barcelona, and these two could become Barca’s fourth and fifth signings of the season after the arrivals of Anthony Gordon, Karim Adeyemi and Jesse Bisiwu.

The club is also aiming to secure a striker as well, with their eyes on Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez after the exits of Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres. Rodri was not in the club’s plans originally, but the club seized the opportunity as he made himself available after winning the FIFA World Cup with Spain.

A long-term injury faced by Frenkie de Jong has also meant that Barcelona is exploring some new midfielder options in the market.

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Real Madrid, FC Barcelona’s arch-rivals, had also tried to sign Rodri, sources had earlier told ESPN, but the footballer preferred his next destination to be Barca.

Rodri is being viewed as a marquee signing by Barcelona, who can take the Hansi Flick-managed side, back-to-back La Liga champions, to newer heights. After spells at Villarreal and Atletico, Rodri joined Man City back in 2019 and has made a rich CV for himself there, with four Premier League titles and a Champions League title, including European Championships and the FIFA World Cup with Spain. He was also named the ‘Player of the Tournament’ in both of Spain’s triumphs.

The success at the Euros earned Rodri the Ballon d’Or back in 2024. (ANI)

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London [UK], August 17 (ANI): A bludgeoning half-century from Tim Seifert helped Manchester Super Giants (MSG) capture their maiden Men’s Hundred title, beating Trent Rockets by five wickets in the final at Lord’s on Sunday.

Seifert had a memorable night, taking home the ‘Player of the Match’ and the ‘Player of the Tournament award as he effortlessly hit sixes to help his team chase down a modest total. In 10 innings, Seifert made 394 runs at an average of 49.25, with a strike rate of 168.37 and five fifties.

Winning the toss, MSG elected to field first, with Ben Duckett (31 in 24 balls, with three fours and a six) adding 48 runs for the first wicket with Finn Allen (15). Following that, the team crumbled to 95/5, with Noor Ahmed’s (3/33) spin web demolishing the Rockets’ batting line-up. Aneurin Donald (38 in 19 balls, with five fours and two sixes) looked good, but fell to Noor, sending half the side into the pavilion.

Cameos from Mitchell Santner (20 in 16 balls, with a four and a six) and Lewis Gregory (32 in 16 balls, with two fours and three sixes), who added 44 runs for the sixth wicket, took the Rockets to 158/8, with pacer Sonny Baker (2/34) and Josh Tongue (1/27) also causing considerable damage.

During the chase, Seifert and Paul Walter (22 in 14 balls, with two fours and a six) added 66-runs for the first wicket, while Buttler also played a quick cameo of 23 in 14 balls, with three sixes. Seifert was on a rampage, reaching his fifty in 23 balls and becoming the first player to make five fifties in a single edition of the tournament.

Seifert (72 in 38 balls, with four boundaries and seven sixes) and Leus du Plooy (27* in 18 balls, with four boundaries) took the team to the brink of victory. With three runs needed in three balls, Liam Dawson unleashed the winning six, chasing down the total with five wickets and two balls in hand.

Mohammad Amir (3/29) was the pick of the bowlers for Rockets. (ANI)

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In the first innings of the first Test match against Sri Lanka, Devdutt Padikkal smashed a glorious century at the Galle International Cricket Stadium near Galle Fort.

Facing 230 balls, the left-handed batsman smashed 167 runs, including 15 boundaries and a maximum. Speaking on his knock, Team India's veteran batsman KL Rahul said that Devdutt has come through the ranks of U-19s and made his way up to the national team.

"Obviously, coming from the same state, Dev is somebody that, you know, I have seen come through the ranks from under-19s and, you know, scored tonnes and tonnes of runs for Karnataka and made his way up to Indian cricket," he said in a video posted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

He then revealed conducting chats with the 26-year-old cricketer about the game. The veteran also said that the left-handed batsman loves batting and scoring big runs.

"In the last couple of years, he has been waiting for his opportunity and quietly toiling in the nets and trying to get better at some aspects of his batting. We have had a lot of chats over the last couple of years that he is been with the team about what needs to get better or what to expect in Sri Lanka, what to expect in the Test matches to come," said Rahul.

"And, you know, he's one of those players who's come here before, scored some runs in India A as well. So, just getting used to the condition. He scored 100 in the warm-up game as well. So, he's been amongst runs. He is someone who loves batting and scoring big runs and really happy that he could get the first 100," he added.

IND vs SL 1st Test: Team India's first innings' star performers

Along with Padikkal, KL Rahul also smashed 82 runs in 175 balls, with the help of 10 boundaries and a maximum. Dhruv Jurel also registered 51 runs in 68 balls, including four boundaries and a maximum.

Later, Team India was bowled out for 462 runs in 116.4 overs.

Sri Lanka's Prabath Jayasuriya bagged four wickets by conceding 109 runs in 39 overs. Keshara Nuwantha also returned with the figures of three wickets for 175 runs in 39 overs. Asitha Fernando managed to pick up two wickets and leaked 63 runs in 17.4 overs.

(With ANI Inputs)

A dominant Bangladesh stunned hosts Australia to win the first Test by nine wickets here on Sunday for a historic maiden Test victory on Australian soil.

After bowling Australia out for 284 and needing 57 to win, the visitors cruised past the total when Mominul Haque slashed Beau Webster to the backward point boundary. Bangladesh dominated Australia throughout the match and the margin of victory will send shockwaves through the cricketing world.

After bowling Australia out for 198 in the first innings, the visitors always looked the more likely to win. They kept the pressure on and didn’t panic when Cameron Green (104) brought up his century on Sunday. Spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz claimed 5-66.

Australia players wear a dejected look after their shock loss. PIC/AP; PTI

Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said Bangladesh’s win was the country’s best result in history. “This is the biggest win so far for Bangladesh in any format,” Najmul said. “Going forward we want to do something special in the future.”

The second Test starts in Mackay on August 22. Leading into the Test in Darwin, Bangladesh lost a Test match to Zimbabwe by an innings and 85 runs, then were thrashed by a Cricket Australia XI in a warm-up game. “We need to be consistent as a team,” Najmul said.

Australia captain Pat Cummins refused to rule out making changes to the team. “It’s one Test but it’s also a little bit of a trend as well,” Cummins said about the batting issues at the top of the order. “So it’s trying to work out, do you need to intervene now or do you let it play out and you think it’s the way forward? So I think that’s the question over the next couple of days that we’ll sit down and have a think about,” he added.

Cummins & Co Slammed over Shockstralia!

Ricky Ponting, Former Australia skipper
‘I think it’s inevitable they [Team Australia] have to make a change. I was on the record at the end of last summer thinking that this was the ideal time to start regenerating this team. I am the last one to want to make change. So it has to get to a bad point before I start saying you ought to leave somebody out’

Mark Waugh, Former Australia all-rounder
‘The Australians have been off their game and paid the price. This could possibly be the biggest upset I could remember in Australian cricket in Australia’

Trent Copeland, Former Australia pacer
‘You cannot lose to Bangladesh in Australia in a Test match. I’m hesitant to go all in on it, but this is an embarrassing loss and one that’s unacceptable’

One
Pat Cummins is the only Australian skipper to lose a Test match against two Asian teams at home — India and Bangladesh

Three
No of Test matches Bangladesh took to register their first-ever win in Australia — the best by an Asian team

Brief scores
Australia 198 all out & 284 all out (C Green 104; M Hasan 5-66, H Mahmud 3-56) lost to Bangladesh 426 all out & 57-1 (M Haque 30*, S Islam 25*) by nine wickets

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Dhruv Jurel on Sunday said he was not under any “pressure” despite failing to notch up a fifty in his last seven innings, and thanked head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill for giving him confidence during the lean phase.

Jurel made a 68-ball 51 on the second day of the first Test, playing an important hand to lead India to a formidable 460 for nine against Sri Lanka here. “There was, honestly, no pressure. I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to represent India. That’s the only privilege that I play for,” Jurel said in the post-day press conference.

“So whenever I speak to the captain or head coach, they always tell me what to do, what the situation is. So, tell me to play accordingly. There is no personal milestone that I look for before batting. I just go there and do what the team needs,” he said.

Jurel had played at this same venue for India A in the lead-up to the Test series, and the middle-order batter said the experience stood him in good stead here. “We came here 10 days before. We practised in Colombo and before that played for India ‘A’, and we had four to five sessions. It’s all about batting on these kinds of surfaces as much as I can. It improves my batting, knowing the environment, and the situation. It’s really helpful,” he noted.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever