Football

The Camp Nou has always been a stronghold for Barca. But with the Olympic Stadium not offering the same aura, coupled with potential pitch quality concerns, it may impact Barca's game play, a Xinhua report said.

The Spain international, who has made 87 Premier League appearances, has signed a seven-year contract at Stamford Bridge and will soon join up with the first-team squad at Cobham.

Gvardiol becomes the second signing of the summer transfer window for Man City ahead of the 2023-24 campaign, following in the footsteps of fellow Croatian international Mateo Kovacic. The 21-year-old made 87 appearances for RB Leipzig across the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns, scoring five goals and winning two DFB-Pokal trophies.

After a 0-0 draw in the first-leg match in Thessaloniki last week, about 27,000 fans at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem saw PAOK take an early lead in the 12th minute from an own goal by Beitar defender Edi Gotliv. Gotliv unsuccessfully tried to return the ball to his goalkeeper Miguel Silva, reports Xinhua.

The 32-year-old faced the media for the first time since he agreed to a two-year deal with the Brazilian club last Saturday, and he made little attempt to hide his enthusiasm, reports Xinhua. "Sao Paulo are a big club so it wasn't hard for me to make the decision to come here," Rodriguez said.

Maccabi dominated most of the first home game under new head coach Robbie Keane on Thursday evening. They took the lead in the 13th minute from Dan Biton's free-kick from the right. The home side had several other scoring chances during the first half, but Moldovan goalkeeper Cristian Avram was equal to all of them.

Former Real Madrid and Sevilla midfielder Isco, who has played 38 times for Spain, moves to Betis after leaving Sevilla in January following a complete breakdown in relations with the club's former sporting director Monchi, who has since joined Premier League club Aston Villa, reports Xinhua.

The 24-year-old French captain, who still has one year remaining on his contract, is unwilling to renew his contract with the PSG. The French champions left him out of their squad for the pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea.

Fofana has suffered further back luck prior to a campaign in the past two years, breaking a leg in pre-season in 2021 and struggling with a knee problem last year after joining Chelsea, a Xinhua report said. That limited him to just 20 appearances last season and he is now going to be out for at least six months and probably several more.

Before the presentation ceremony, Arda Guler signed a new contract for six seasons in the boardroom at Real Madrid City, accompanied by club president Florentino Perez. After the signing, he was presented with a watch, a replica of the Santiago Bernabeu and a shirt with his name and number 24.