Under joins Foxes on loan for season

LONDON • Leicester have signed Turkey winger Cengiz Under from Italian club Roma on a season-long loan, the Premier League club said yesterday.

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed but British media reported that Leicester have agreed to an initial loan fee worth €3 million (S$5.3 million), with an option to buy the 23-year-old from Roma at the end of the season.

Under scored 17 goals and provided 12 assists in 88 games across all competitions for Roma after his arrival from Istanbul Basaksehir in 2017.

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Barca chief calls for peace with Messi

BARCELONA • Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu said he does not wish to have any more disputes with captain Lionel Messi, after the Argentinian superstar reluctantly opted to stay at the club this month after failing to force through a move.

Messi had complained earlier that Bartomeu had not fulfilled a promise to allow him to break his contract unilaterally and leave the club without a transfer fee, also lashing out at the chief's leadership. But Bartomeu chose not to fire back against Barca's all-time top scorer, instead praising Messi for turning a page and performing well in the team's pre-season matches, including scoring twice in a 3-1 win over Girona last week.

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Honest Spanish triathlete feted online

LONDON • Diego Mentrida, a Spanish athlete, has been lauded on social media for his act of sportsmanship after he sacrificed third place in the recent Santander Triathlon to hand it to a competitor who took a wrong turn on the course.

British athlete James Teagle was on track to finish third in Spain, when he made a mistake less than 100m from the finish by running into the crowd in a fenced area.

Mentrida overtook him but noticed the error and stopped to allow Teagle to cross first. Last Friday, the Spaniard was awarded honorary third place by the organisers and the same €300 (S$527) prize money as Teagle, according to Spanish newspaper El Mundo.