BERLIN (AP) — Bayer Leverkusen has snapped up highly rated teenager Ibrahim Maza from second-division club Hertha Berlin in its first signing for next season.
The 19-year-old Maza, an attacking midfielder, signed a contract through June 2030, the 2024 Bundesliga champion said on Thursday.
Kicker magazine reported the clubs agreed on a transfer fee of around 12 million euros ($13.6 million) for the player.
It promises to be the start of a busy summer at Leverkusen with key players including Jonathan Tan set to leave, uncertainty over the future of star Florian Wirtz, and coach Xabi Alonso expected to leave amid links to former club Real Madrid.
Former Barcelona coach Xavi and Erik ten Hag, who was previously in charge of Manchester United, are reportedly candidates to succeed Alonso, who led unbeaten Leverkusen to a league and cup double last season.
The Berlin-born Maza became Hertha’s most promising youth player after joining the capital club’s junior ranks from local club Reinickendorfer Füchse in 2016.
Hertha was relegated from the Bundesliga in 2023 — Maza scored in the club’s last game in the division — and he became one of the team’s key attacking threats in the second division where the 1.8-meter right-footed player scored five goals and set up five more this season.
“Maza is currently one of the most interesting young attacking players,” Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes said. “Ibrahim suits us and our style of football. He has outstanding technical skills, can dribble past defenders, and he has an eye for his teammates, which he knows how to use brilliantly.”
Maza played for Germany Under-18s through Under-20s before opting to represent Algeria. He turned down previous offers to leave Hertha and extended his contract with the club in August last year to 2027, but Hertha’s financial difficulties meant he was bound to leave sooner rather than later.
“As a Berliner, the greatest thing for me was to become a professional player at Hertha BSC and to be able to wear the (Hertha) flag on my chest in Olympiastadion,” Maza said in a Hertha statement. “I’m grateful now that the club is giving me the chance to take the next step at the highest level in Leverkusen.”
Hertha said it will give Maza “a fitting farewell” before he leaves. There are still three rounds of the second division remaining and Hertha has two games at home.
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Hertha's Ibrahim Maza, centre, shoots at the goal of Cologne goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe during the Bundesliga 2 soccer match between FC Koln and Hertha BSC, at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne, Germany, Saturday April 5, 2025. (Marius Becker/dpa via AP)
Word of an offer from Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume talks on its nuclear program is emerging from the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s top cleric issued a rare statement, calling on the kingdom’s troops to defend the country from neighboring Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
In New York, where the wars in Iran and Gaza have dominated the U.N. agenda, the leaders of Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt were scheduled to address world leaders later Friday.
Here is a look at the latest news from the Middle East. More coverage of the U.N. General Assembly is available here.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed Friday reporting that Tehran has put forth a seven-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume talks on its nuclear program if the U.S. meets the conditions it has laid out. Talking to reporters at the U.N., Araghchi said the plan was delivered to Washington through Qatari mediators on the sidelines of the General Assembly. “If the necessary conditions are met, the strait can be reopened and normal maritime passage restored within seven days,” he said. “The choice now rests with the United States.” The seven-day clock will begin when the U.S. accepts the plan, Araghchi added. The White House said earlier Friday that U.S. officials are having positive and constructive conversations with mediators on the Iran war
With Saudi oil facilities, cities and ships off its coast coming under escalating attacks, the kingdom's top religious authority has called on soldiers to be prepared to defend the country from Iran-backed Houthis.
Grand Mufti Sheikh Saleh al-Fawzan, who traditionally avoids weighing in on politics in a country that holds enormous influence among Muslims worldwide, issued the strongly worded statement. Al-Fawzan addressed his message to soldiers defending the kingdom's borders and members of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen, peppering it with Quranic verses and religious edicts.
“Protecting this great nation, guarding its borders, defending against aggression and punishing those who want to harm any inch of it is one of the greatest duties,” he said.
The head of Yemen's internationally recognized government, Rashad al-Alimi, likewise urged Yemenis to rally behind Saudi-backed armed forces and allied groups in their fight with the Houthis.
Al-Alimi, who chairs the country’s Presidential Leadership Council, also called on Yemenis fighting alongside the Houthis to defect, announcing a general amnesty.
Al-Alimi said the aim of the fighting is to restore his government’s control over Sanaa, the capital, which the Houthis seized in 2014.
His call to arms came during his first speech since his Saudi-backed forces were routed from the western Red Sea coast by the Houthis’ lightning advance on the city of Mokha and islands in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, where 12% of the world's trade passes.
The swift Houthi advances raised questions about the effectiveness of the Saudi-backed forces in the face of the disciplined, well-armed Houthis. The Houthi assault exploited divisions among the Saudi-backed forces and distrust among its leaders, leading to a chaotic troop withdrawal before the fall of Mokha.
Al-Alimi’s speech came on the 64th anniversary of the military coup that ousted the monarchy ruling northern Yemen, rooted in the Zaydi Shiite sect to which the Houthis also belong. The Houthis battled Yemen’s central government for years before sweeping down from their northern stronghold and seizing Sanaa.
The first joint meeting of the military chiefs of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey was held in Riyadh on Friday, following the signing of the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement by the three countries, Pakistan’s military said in a statement.
The chiefs of defense forces and chiefs of general staff from the three countries reviewed the regional security situation and threats facing Saudi Arabia, according to the statement.
“They strongly resented the attacks targeting the Holy City of Mecca and civilian and economic infrastructure,” the statement said.
The military chiefs also praised the vigilance and professionalism of the Saudi armed forces in ensuring the safety of the people and security of the kingdom, it said.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Friday in a post on X that Tehran supports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s call for a return to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding and renewed diplomacy between Iran and the United States.
Pezeshkian said he appreciated Xi’s “thoughtful and responsible support” for resolving differences through dialogue and diplomacy, adding that Iran backed returning to the understanding and honoring previously agreed commitments.
The post came a day after Pezeshkian met with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Sharif said Pezeshkian told him the Islamabad memorandum remained “fully acceptable” to Iran and that Tehran was ready to take it forward.
The 14-point memorandum, mediated by Pakistan and signed in June, provided a framework for ending the conflict.
In a statement approved by its 15 members, the U.N.’s most powerful body condemned Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The council called for “practical cooperation,” including with Yemen’s internationally recognized government, to prevent the Houthis from obtaining weapons, military material and training enabling them to carry out attacks.
It reminded all countries of their obligation to implement the U.N. arms embargo against the Houthis.
Israel’s military said two of its soldiers were killed in northern Gaza on Thursday while inspecting an unexploded Israeli drone near a military post. They were the first Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza in months.
Five other Israeli soldiers have been killed since last October’s ceasefire that attempted to halt a more than two-year war between Israel and the militant Hamas group.
While the heaviest fighting has subsided, almost daily Israeli fire has continued. Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes and frequently fire on Palestinians near military-held zones and have killed 1,408 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
A young man holds a Saudi flag while standing through the sunroof of a vehicle during celebrations marking Saudi Arabia's 96th National Day in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Baraa Anwer)
Palestinians walk amid war-damaged buildings in Gaza City, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
This image taken from undated video released by the Ansar Allah Media Office, the media arm of Yemen's Houthi rebels, on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026, shows, according to the group, Houthi fighters firing rifles during clashes with Saudi-backed forces at an undisclosed location in Yemen. (Ansar Allah Media Office via AP)
Men perform the traditional Saudi sword dance known as the ardah during celebrations marking Saudi Arabia's 96th National Day in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Baraa Anwer)
