Mounir Nasraoui, the father of Barcelona and Spain star winger Lamine Yamal, was stabbed late on Wednesday at a parking lot in the northeastern Spanish town of Mataro, La Vanguardia newspaper reported, citing official sources familiar with the matter.

Reuters was not able to independently confirm the report. The regional Mossos d’Esquadra police force and a spokesperson for the Mataro local government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

According to La Vanguardia report, Nasraoui was taken to the Can Ruti hospital in the nearby city of Badalona and his diagnosis was “serious”. It added that local and regional police had located several witnesses of the incident.

However, a later report by sports website Relevo, also citing official sources, said Nasraoui had been released from hospital and was back at his home.

Yamal, a soccer wonderkid who grew up in coastal Mataro – a working-class, multi-ethnic suburb of Barcelona – became the breakout star of the recent Euro 2024 held in Germany.

Spain won the tournament, helped in part by the 17-year-old scoring against France in the semifinal on July 9.

-Reuters

Real Madrid and Brazil forward Vinicius Jr is open to an offer of more than one billion euros from Saudi Arabia, sources close to the player told Reuters on Monday.

Vinicius, 24, was approached by Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) officials to inquire about his interest of moving to the Saudi Pro League (SPL) on a five-year contract worth around 200 million euros per season fixed, plus bonuses.

The package would also include a separate 10-year contract to become an ambassador for the 2034 World Cup, which is set to be held in the country, but those terms and financial numbers are yet to be discussed.

Although an official, formal offer has yet to be presented, Vinicius has not dismissed the move and gave permission to PIF to approach Real Madrid.

Despite being “happy and motivated” in the Spanish capital, Vinicius and his representatives believe that a lucrative offer like this needs to be studied carefully.

Another source close to the player said that Real have shown no interest in negotiating a transfer, highlighting the player’s one billion euro buy-out clause.

Real Madrid and PIF did not respond to requests for comment.

Obsessed to be taken seriously as a soccer force, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced a Sports Clubs Investment and Privatisation Project, with PIF taking ownership of 75% of the capital of the country’s four main clubs: Al Ahli, Al Ittihad, Al Hilal and Al Nassr.

The biggest Saudi transfer came from the country’s most successful club, Al Hilal, who spent 90 million euros to buy forward Neymar from Paris St Germain.

With Karim Benzema at Al Ittihad and Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr, PIF tried to persuade France captain Kylian Mbappe to be the big name Al Ahli is still missing last year.

The forward, however, turned down Saudi’s lucrative offer and joined Real Madrid in June.

The proposal for Vinicius is understood to be similar to the Mbappe offer. The Brazilian would join Al Ahli, linking up with former Premier League players Riyad Mahrez and Roberto Firmino.

Vinicius, who is under contract until 2027 after signing an extension in 2022, is a contender to win the Ballon d’Or award for the best player in the world after helping Real to a Champions League and LaLiga double last season.

-Reuters

The napkin on which Barcelona promised to sign Lionel Messi when he was a 13-year-old has been sold for 762,400 pounds ($969,000, auction house Bonhams said on Friday.

The napkin was signed in December, 2000 by Barca’s former sporting director Carles Rexach and transfer advisor Josep Minguella along with Argentine agent Horacio Gaggioli over lunch at a tennis club.

Messi became one of Barcelona’s greatest players, winning over 30 trophies and leaving the Catalan club as their all-time leading scorer with 672 goals.

He also won a record eight Ballon d’Or awards for the world’s best player and led Argentina to the World Cup crown in 2022. Messi now plays for U.S. club Inter Miami in Major League Soccer.

“Yes, it’s a paper napkin, but it’s the famous napkin that was at the inception of Lionel Messi’s career,” Ian Ehling, the head of fine books and manuscripts at Bonhams New York, said in a statement.

“It changed the life of Messi, the future of FC Barcelona, and was instrumental in giving some of the most glorious moments of football to billions of fans around the globe.”

-Reuters