lionel messi was part of the fabric of barcelona. their iconic star player — inspiring the club to multiple spanish and champions league titles over a glittering 21 year association. but in an emotional press conference over the weekend — the argentine superstar confirmed the news to devastate barca fans — he was leaving. would make joe would makejoe wilson has more. being promoted in england, you'll make the shortest version in the river tennis match, the longest form. what do those two formats have to do with each other? how can they be linked. he's been enjoying himself for the birmingham phoenix and now finds himself back in the test match squad as england looks to balance with a spin bowling all around her. but how can he adapt from one extreme from cricket to the other. it is a question for the captain. other. it is a question for the ca tain. �* ., , other. it is a question for the ca tain. �* . , , . other. it is a question for the catain. ~ ., , . ., , captain. and has experience and test matches and — captain. a

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everyone is as much a product barcelona as he is i much a product barcelona as he is rosario. written on the campus, the phrase more than a club. for messi these words have always been particularly pointed. translation:- particularly pointed. translation: ~ , ., , translation: me in my family were certain we were _ translation: me in my family were certain we were going _ translation: me in my family were certain we were going to _ translation: me in my family were certain we were going to stay - translation: me in my family were certain we were going to stay in - translation: me in my family were certain we were going to stay in our i certain we were going to stay in our home, and that was what we wanted to do the most. for us the most important thing is our well—being and to be at home enjoying our professional and personal life in barcelona, which is wonderful. unfortunately, today, i am barcelona, which is wonderful. unfortunately, today, iam here barcelona, which is wonderful. unfortunately, today, i am here to say goodbye after many, many years. for a young man moves c

the moment proving too overwhelming for the greatest player barcelona has ever known. lionel messi would've preferred his time here to end with a standing ovation in front of a packed camp nou but the pandemic and barcelona's financial woes was put an end to that hope. a funeral atmosphere outside the ground as messi said goodbye inside. translation: i gave everything for this club, for this shirt. - from the first day i arrived until the very last and the truth is that i am leaving. i am so grateful for the care the people have shown me. i would love to be able to go a different way. i never imagined having to say goodbye because i never thought of it. it has been a busy summer for the argentine superstar — fresh off of leading his country to the copa america crown, his first ever senior international honour, messi was all set to sign a new five—year contract with the spanish club. but behind the scenes, barcelona's financial troubles have been apparent for some time. messi's new deal was dependent on the club trimming their wage bill to satisfy the la liga's fina

lionel messi gives a tearful final press conference, as he leaves barcelona after 21 years. welcome along, thanks forjoining us. so the tokyo olympics have drawn to a close. the games that were delayed by a year and held amid the worldwide pandemic are over. it's been a very different olympics and was marked by a very different closing ceremony in the olympic stadium. no spectators as has been the case for all the events but it was still spectacular. the games' official sign—off featured music, football freestylers, break dancers and bmx riders. the traditional athletes parade was much more downbeat — tight restrictions meant 62 countries were not there and not represented by a flagbearer. laura kenny carried the flag for team gb. she finishes the games as her country's most successful female olympian and the most successful female olympic cyclist. president of the international olympic committee thomas bach said the games had brought hope as he declared them closed. in these difficult times, you give for the world the most precious of gifts. hope for the first time sinc

lionel messi's representatives are in talks with paris st—germain — two days after it was announced that barcelona would be releasing him from his contract. bbc sport has been told the messi camp contacted psg as soon as it became clear the catalan club would be unable to honour the reduced contract they had agreed with the argentine striker. the french club are confident a deal can be put together with messi already familiar with a number of the club's players. chelsea are closing in on sealing the return of romelu lukaku to stamford bridge. it is understood an agreement is close between inter milan and chelsea on a deal that could be worth arund £97 million. that would be just short of the british record 100 mliion that manchester city paid aston villa for england midfielder jack grealish on thursday. in rugby league's super league, leaders catalans dragons were soundly beaten by second placed st helens 24—12. the challenge cup winners put an end to the dragons ia match unbeaten run, running in five tries, the last score coming from lachlan coote. that's all from sportsday. you can get the la

as this saga enters a new chapter according to a statementjust put out by barcelona for top for more on that, go to the website, but that is a protracted issue that will alert a lot of interested clubs. thank you for your company. lot of interested clubs. thank you foryour company. it lot of interested clubs. thank you for your company. it has been a busy one! goodbye for now. hello there. there�*s certainly no summery weather in this forecast. it weather in this forecast. will feel much like argus l the it will feel much like argus over the next couple of days. cool conditions for the time of year, windy weather and also some heavy rain, some thundery downpours and places, but there will be some sunshine around as well, so not a complete wash—out. here it is, the area of low pressure which will stick around for quite awhile. it has been moving across shores during thursday and through to night into friday, it will be bringing bands of showers, longer spells of rain, some of them thundery again. in between, some drier interludes but i think tonight it�*s going to be fairly mild

in a window, we have seen messy moves from barcelona to psg, move in front million pounds to manchester city and going for near hundred pounds and will be crazy to say and rule anything out of this transfer window this massive deals. thank you very much. so still plenty of time left in the transfer window for clubs to get business done. one of the biggest money moves so far has been romelu lukaku — the belgian left italian champions inter milan for chelsea. for 97 and a half million pounds. in his first press conference since re—joining the club — he's says he comes back a better player and is raring to go. it is good to be back, obviously. you fight as a footballer to achieve your dreams and i'm here now and i can't wait to be on the pitch and perform with my team—mates. it doesn't feel new because a lot of the players are from before and i really have a relationship most of the players and i'm really happy to be here and it is up to us to prepare as a team to keep on winning and going forward. i've learned much more about myself, setting higher standards for myself in the game

dame sarah storey won her first paralympic medal in barcelona in 1992, and yet here she was breaking the c5 pursuit world record — her own world record — in qualifying, aged a3. so, to the final. on the right of your screen, storey�*s opponent, crystal lane—wright — a fellow brit from her saddle guaranteed the best seat in the house for another remarkable piece of storey glory. in the individual pursuit, it's all over if one cyclist catches the other. seven laps in, the great dame was approaching fast. and dame sarah storey catches crystal lane—wright! sarah storey�*s 15th gold medal won in her eighth games across two sports. ed achieved with her family several thousand miles and several time zones away. thousand miles and several time zones away-— zones away. when she finished racin: , zones away. when she finished racing. that's _ zones away. when she finished racing, that's what _ zones away. when she finished racing, that's what hit - zones away. when she finished racing, that's what hit you. - racing, that's what hit you. literally the states are empty, soap raci

the barcelona president says the club simply cannot afford to keep him any more, so he will be leaving after years there. joan laporta offered messi a new contract but the club's wage bill would have been more than its entire turnover. though the two year deal would have been paid over the next five, the spanish league's strict salary rules meant it wasn't possible. the argentinian is now likely tojoin paris st germain. translation: to fulfil the fair play rules, - barcelona needed to accept a new deal but that would mortgage 50 years of our tv rights and i needed to take that into account, i wasn't in a position to put the future of the club at risk and i cannot do it for anybody. our club has a history of 122 years and has a history above any player, even the best player in the world who has played with us for many years who we will be forever thankful to. cricket, and rain brought an early close to play at trent bridge on the third day of the first test between england and india. india were bowled out for 278. kl rahul topscored for them with 84 to help them to a 95 run first inning

imagine that lionel messi is on the bench for psg for the first time since his sensational move from barcelona. neymar and kylian mbappe are up front but we could see the argentinian at some point? that's all from sportsday. goodbye. 0vernight there will still be a lot of cloud coming in. we are likely to find some clearer skies for longer across wales and the south—west. double figures elsewhere. there could be a little drizzle here and there, particularly through tomorrow across south—east scotland and the north—east of england. a lot of cloud for many other parts of the uk. the best of the sunshine is likely to be the western parts of wales, far south—west of england, and perhaps developing in some central areas of scotland, boosting temperature is up to around 20 or 21 celsius. much cooler around those north sea coasts. and the winds could be a bit stronger on tuesday. again, a lot of cloud heading our way, not a huge amount of sunshine. always going to be better across more sheltered western areas of the uk, and under the cloud temperatures will be 18 or 19 celsius. this is bbc ne

in total but also the transfer fees are a lot smaller as this pinch hits, we have seen the likes of barcelona and psg doing a lot of their business on free transfers. the doing a lot of their business on free transfers.— doing a lot of their business on free transfers. ., ,., ,., . free transfers. the global pandemic hurtin: the free transfers. the global pandemic hurting the rest _ free transfers. the global pandemic hurting the rest of— free transfers. the global pandemic hurting the rest of europe - free transfers. the global pandemic hurting the rest of europe a - free transfers. the global pandemic hurting the rest of europe a bit - hurting the rest of europe a bit harder than the premier league. cristiano ronaldo we mentioned already, lionel messi going to psg. not the biggest fee but the wage bills will be huge. manchester united, psg, they will get more from those players than just results on the pitch. it those players than “ust results on the itch. , ., those players than “ust results on the itch. , . ., the pitch. it is all about marketing. _ the pitch. it is all about mark