Barcelona lure goalkeeper Szczesny out of retirement

Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has come out of retirement to sign for Spanish giants Barcelona. “Barcelona and the player Wojciech Szczesny have reached a deal for his signing until June 30, 2025,” said the La Liga leaders in a statement.
The former Arsenal and Juventus goalkeeper, 34, joins after Barca’s first choice stopper Marc-Andre ter Stegen was ruled out potentially until the end of the season with a severe knee injury, sustained on September 22. Szczesny retired this summer after featuring at Euro 2024 for Poland but has now returned to the game to play in La Liga for the first time.
The goalkeeper had said his “heart (was) not there any more” to play football after leaving Juventus by mutual agreement in August. Szczesny has made over 600 appearances for club and country over his career, winning three Serie A titles and three Italian cups with Juventus, as well as two FA Cups with Arsenal. Barca’s reserve goalkeeper Inaki Pena started in place of the stricken Ter Stegen in recent matches.

Senegal sack AFCON-winning coach Aliou Cisse
Senegal have decided to part company with coach Aliou Cisse, who led them to their Africa Cup of Nations triumph in 2022 and the past two World Cup tournaments. The initiative came from Senegal sports minister Khady Diene Gaye, according to the local football association, citing a government request not to renew his contract.
Cisse, a former captain of the national team and Paris Saint-Germain player, took over as coach in 2015 and led the country to their first AFCON title two years ago. Senegal also reached the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup but fell at the same stage of this year’s AFCON, where they were eliminated by hosts and eventual champions Ivory Coast.
The Senegalese FA said an interim coaching team would replace the 48-year-old Cisse for the two 2025 AFCON qualifiers against Malawi this month.
Senegal are level with Burkina Faso on four points from two games in a group that also includes Burundi. They are also unbeaten in 2026 World Cup qualifying but trail group leaders Sudan by two points after four matches.

Man City’s Nunes briefly arrested over alleged phone robbery
Spanish police briefly arrested Manchester City midfielder and Portugal international Matheus Nunes last month for allegedly stealing a mobile phone, a police source said.
Nunes forced a high-end phone out of the hands of a 58-year-old man in a Madrid night club, believing that the man had taken a picture of Nunes without his consent in the bathroom, El Mundo said.
Asked about the arrest, a police spokesperson in Madrid said a Portuguese citizen had been arrested on Sept. 8 at 5:30am in a downtown night club for alleged robbery of a high-end phone. After being questioned at a police station, the man was released pending trial. A police source confirmed the arrested person was Nunes, adding that the case was being treated as a robbery and not as theft because the phone’s value exceeded 300 euros ($332).
A spokesperson for Nunes did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Brazil-born Nunes, 26, joined Premier League champions Manchester City from Wolverhampton Wanderers last season. Despite being part of the Portugal squad at Euro 2024 in Germany in June and July, he was not called up for international duty last month.

Argentine court authorises transfer of Maradona’s remains
An Argentine court on Tuesday authorised the transfer of football legend Diego Maradona’s remains, at his daughters’ request, from a cemetery to a mausoleum to be built for him in central Buenos Aires.
Maradona died in November 2020, aged 60, while recovering from brain surgery for a blood clot, and after decades of battling addictions to cocaine and alcohol. He was found dead in bed two weeks after going under the knife, in a rented house in an exclusive Buenos Aires neighbourhood where he was brought after being discharged from hospital.
He was found to have died of a heart attack. His daughters had requested his remains be transferred to a monument that will be known as the “M10 Memorial.” The court that granted the request is also investigating possible negligence on the part of Maradona’s medical team that may have led to his death.