LEVERKUSEN, Germany (AP) — Manchester City's young attacking midfielder Claudio Echeverri is heading to Bayer Leverkusen on loan and has some big shoes to fill.
Considered one of the brightest young talents in South American soccer, the 19-year-old from Argentina joins on a season-long loan to “gain further first-team experience,” City said. He was joined at Leverkusen by another new signing Thursday, defender Loïc Badé from Sevilla.
Echeverri will be expected to take on the role of creative playmaker after Florian Wirtz left for Liverpool for a fee of up to $156 million in June, amid a broader exodus of players from Leverkusen following Xabi Alonso's departure as coach.
“Soccer fans come to the stadium to see players like Claudio,” sporting director Simon Rolfes said. “His creativity will give our game new, attractive facets.”
Echeverri signed for City in January 2024 but didn't join up with the team for a year after returning to his old club River Plate for a loan in Argentina.
He's played three times since then for City — including a debut in the FA Cup final — and scored his first goal on his first start for the team against Al-Ain at the Club World Cup.
Badé arrives at Leverkusen on a five-year contract for a fee reported by Germany's Kicker magazine to be 25 million euros ($29 million) plus potential add-ons.
The 25-year-old central defender won the Europa League with Sevilla in 2023 and an Olympic silver medal last year with France's under-23 team. He made his full national team debut against Germany in the Nations League in June.
He's likely to replace Jonathan Tah in the Leverkusen defense after the German center-back left for Bayern Munich.
Leverkusen heads into its first Bundesliga fixture of the season Saturday against Hoffenheim after winning its first-round German Cup match last week in new coach Erik ten Hag's first game in charge.
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FILE - Manchester City's Claudio Echeverri celebrates after scoring his team's second goal during the Club World Cup Group G soccer match between Manchester City and Al Ain in Atlanta, Sunday, June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison Friday in the first verdict from eight criminal trials over the martial law debacle that forced him out of office and other allegations.
Yoon was impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster.
The most significant criminal charge against him alleges that his martial law enforcement amounted to a rebellion, and the independent counsel has requested the death sentence in the case that is to be decided in a ruling next month.
In Friday's case, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon for defying attempts to detain him, fabricating the martial law proclamation and sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting.
Yoon has maintained he didn’t intend to place the country under military rule for an extended period, saying his decree was only meant to inform the people about the danger of the liberal-controlled parliament obstructing his agenda. But investigators have viewed Yoon’s decree as an attempt to bolster and prolong his rule, charging him with rebellion, abuse of power and other criminal offenses.
Judge Baek Dae-hyun said in the televised ruling that imposing “a grave punishment” was necessary because Yoon hasn’t shown remorse and has only repeated “hard-to-comprehend excuses.” The judge also restoring legal systems damaged by Yoon’s action was necessary.
Yoon, who can appeal the ruling, hasn’t immediately publicly responded to the ruling. But when the independent counsel demanded a 10-year prison term in the case, Yoon’s defense team accused them of being politically driven and lacking legal grounds to demand such “an excessive” sentence.
Prison sentences in the multiple, smaller trials Yoon faces would matter if he is spared the death penalty or life imprisonment at the rebellion trial.
Park SungBae, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law, said there is little chance the court would decide Yoon should face the death penalty in the rebellion case. He said the court will likely issue a life sentence or a sentence of 30 years or more in prison.
South Korea has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 1997 and courts rarely hand down death sentences. Park said the court would take into account that Yoon’s decree didn’t cause casualties and didn’t last long, although Yoon hasn’t shown genuine remorse for his action.
A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol shouts slogans outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol waits for a bus carrying former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs as police officers stand guard outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A picture of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is placed on a board as supporters gather outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
