MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City and Croatia defender Joško Gvardiol needs surgery this week for a fracture to his right leg and faces months out ahead of the World Cup.
Man City's defense was weakened again on Tuesday when Portugal center back Rúben Dias was confirmed to be out for up to six weeks with a hamstring strain, coach Pep Guardiola said.
Speculation has circulated City could target signing Crystal Palace captain Marc Guéhi, the England center back whose projected move to Liverpool four months ago fell through in the final hours of transfer deadline day.
Gvardiol and Dias were injured on Sunday in a 1-1 draw at home to Chelsea that left the team trailing Premier League leader Arsenal by six points.
The 23-year-old Gvardiol “suffered a tibial fracture to his right leg,” City confirmed in a statement late Monday.
He will have surgery this week and City gave no timetable for his return.
Even without two key defenders, the 2023 European champion is well set to advance directly to the Champions League round of 16 in March. The club is fourth in the 36-team standings with two league-phase games left this month at Bodo/Glimt and hosting Galatasaray.
Croatia starts its World Cup group on June 17 against England at the Dallas Cowboys stadium. Croatia then plays Panama in Toronto and Ghana in Philadelphia.
Gvardiol is likely to miss Croatia’s visit to the United States in March for warmup games against Colombia and Brazil.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Manchester City's Ruben Dias, left, and Chelsea's Malo Gusto vie for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Chelsea in Manchester, England, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Manchester City's Josko Gvardiol, below, lies on the pitch after being injured alongside Erling Haaland during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Chelsea in Manchester, England, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola, right, Josko Gvardiol after being substituted during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Chelsea in Manchester, England, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has seized two sanctioned oil tankers linked to Venezuela in back-to-back actions in North Atlantic and Caribbean, officials revealed early Wednesday morning.
U.S. European Command announced the seizure of the merchant vessel Bella 1 for “violations of U.S. sanctions” in a social medial post. The U.S. had been pursuing the tanker since last month after it tried to evade a U.S. blockade on sanctioned oil vessels around Venezuela.
Then, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem revealed that U.S. forces also took control of the tanker Sophia in the Caribbean in a social media post. Noem said both ships were “either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it.”
The U.S. military seized the Bella 1 and subsequently handed over control of it to law enforcement officials, said a U.S. official, who spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.
The ship was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2024 for allegedly smuggling cargo for a company linked to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran. The U.S. Coast Guard attempted to board it in the Caribbean in December as it headed for Venezuela. The ship refused boarding and headed across the Atlantic.
During this time, the Bella 1 was renamed Marinera and flagged to Russia, shipping databases show. The U.S. official also confirmed that the ship's crew had painted a Russian flag on the side of the hull.
Earlier Wednesday, open-source maritime tracking sites showed its position as between Scotland and Iceland, traveling north. The U.S. official also confirmed the ship was in the North Atlantic.
U.S. military planes have flown over the vessel, and on Tuesday a Royal Air Force surveillance plane was shown on flight-tracking sites flying over the same area.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said before the seizure that it was “following with concern the anomalous situation that has developed around the Russian oil tanker Marinera.”
The ministry’s statement, which was carried by the official Tass news agency, added that “for several days now, a U.S. Coast Guard ship has been following the Marinera, even though our vessel is approximately 4,000 km from the American coast.”
In a post to social media, U.S. European Command confirmed that the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Munro tracked the ship ahead of its seizure “pursuant to a warrant issued by a U.S. federal court.”
The military command went on to say that the seizure supported President Donald Trump’s proclamation on targeting sanctioned vessels that “threaten the security and stability of the Western Hemisphere.” The tanker’s seizure comes just days after U.S. military forces conducted a surprise nighttime raid on Venezuela’s capital of Caracas and captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
In the wake of this raid, officials in Trump's Republican administration have said that they intended to continue to seize sanctioned vessels connected to the country.
“We are enforcing American laws with regards to oil sanctions,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on NBC on Sunday. “We go to court. We get a warrant. We seize those boats with oil. And that will continue."
A local walks past a mural featuring oil pumps and wells in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
A government supporter holds an image of President Nicolas Maduro during a women's march to demand his return in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, three days after U.S. forces captured him and his wife. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
