MADRID (AP) — Barcelona made official the signing of Spain captain Rodri on Tuesday, with the midfielder celebrating his arrival to a club that understands “the values" of soccer and saying it was a “tough decision” to leave Manchester City.
The midfielder who helped Spain secure its second World Cup title transferred from Man City to join a squad already filled with world champions such as Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Pau Cubarsí, Gavi and Pedri.
The 30-year-old Rodri's contract will run to 2030, Barcelona said. The announcement was made after the midfielder underwent a medical and the clubs finalized transfer details.
“It’s a very special day, a very important new chapter in my career,” he said. “It was a tough decision. First, because I’m leaving Manchester City, a club that has given me everything and where I’ve been incredibly happy. I’ll be eternally grateful,” Rodri said. “I’m also grateful that they understood it was a good time to leave. Barcelona is a fantastic club, a global reference for its approach to football and the values it represents. I had other options, but Barcelona was my first choice.”
Rodri, who had one year left on his City contract, said upon arriving in Barcelona on Monday that it was “a dream to play” for the Catalan club.
“When offers came in, the first step was understanding that a chapter at my club had ended and it was time to look for a way out. It took me a while to process that. It was the most special club I’ve ever been at,” Rodri said Tuesday. “I studied and analyzed the offers, they were from very important clubs. Together with my family and friends, we made the decision we thought was best.”
Barcelona agreed to a transfer worth 76.5 million euros ($88.5 million), according to a person with knowledge of the transaction confirmed to The Associated Press on Sunday. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the details of the deal have not been made public.
Real Madrid was also reportedly interested in signing Rodri at first — and the midfielder had loudly praised Barcelona's rival in the past — but Spanish media said no agreement could be reached.
Barcelona, chasing a three-peat in La Liga, has already boosted its squad with England forward Anthony Gordon, who will help to make up for the departures of Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres, who scored the winning goal in extra time in the World Cup final against Argentina.
The club is also set to add defender João Cancelo.
Rodri won the Golden Ball as the World Cup’s best player and was crucial for Spain's title-winning campaign.
“I’ve been with many of my teammates for almost two months now, and it’s been a warm welcome," Rodri said. "It’s a very young dressing room, eager to do important things. I hope to contribute to what they’ve brought me here for. I’m joining a tight and enthusiastic dressing room.”
Rodri spent seven years at City, making 298 appearances, scoring 28 goals and helping the English club win 14 trophies.
He scored the winning goal in the Champions League final victory over Inter Milan in 2023, and won the Ballon d’Or as the world’s best player the following year after being part of Spain’s European Championship-winning team.
Rodri had joined City from Atletico Madrid. He previously played at Villarreal. His departure further weakens City’s midfield, with Bernardo Silva having left for Real Madrid this offseason.
“Rodri has been a quite magnificent servant and played a huge part of what the club has achieved since he arrived,” City director of football Hugo Viana said. “With his achievements, Rodri has more than cemented his place in the history of Manchester City and we all wish him well in the next chapter of his career.”
See AP’s full soccer coverage here
Barcelona's Rodri poses with a jersey during his official presentation at a soccer press conference in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Barcelona's Rodri poses with his jersey during his official presentation at a soccer press conference in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
Barcelona's Rodri poses with his jersey during his official presentation at a soccer press conference in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces launched one of their biggest drone attacks on Russia since Moscow’s invasion over four years ago, firing almost 800 drones only two days after a similar salvo, officials said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a Russian missile strike on a village in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region killed at least 10 people and wounded 17 others as the barrage demolished homes, officials said.
The countries are locked in an escalating duel of long-range aerial strikes. Fighting on the roughly 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line in eastern and southern Ukraine is restricted by large numbers of drones and ground robots threatening troop movements, and neither side is making significant battlefield progress, analysts say.
In the past year, Ukraine has devised and deployed domestically produced long-range drones for strikes deep inside Russia. Its drone technology has impressed governments and defense manufacturers around the world.
Officials in Kyiv aim to make the Russian public feel the war’s consequences and pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin into negotiating a peace settlement. Putin has so far shown no sign he intends to stop the invasion.
“Putin continues to drag out the war instead of accepting Ukraine’s realistic ceasefire proposals and ending the bloodshed,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X.
Russian air defenses overnight intercepted 791 Ukrainian drones over a number of regions, as well as annexed Crimea and the Black and the Azov seas, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said, in what was the second-largest drone attack since January 2025, according to an Associated Press tally.
More than 600 Ukrainian drones flew toward the Moscow region, where 180 were shot down, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said without elaborating.
Officials reported no deaths or major damage. Ukraine has increasingly launched swarms of hundreds of drones to try to overwhelm Russian air defenses.
In the region that surrounds the capital, three people were wounded, Gov. Andrei Vorobyov said.
Three people were also wounded in the adjacent Ryazan region where three private houses were damaged, Gov. Pavel Malkov said.
The overnight attack started a fire at a warehouse of Wildberries, Russia’s biggest online retailer, in an industrial zone. Ukraine has repeatedly targeted the company, which it says helps supply the Russian military, an allegation Moscow denies.
Wildberries said its facility sustained “insignificant damage.”
Coverage of the attack in state and Kremlin-backed Russian media was mostly muted, as is often the case. Russia’s main TV channels — state-run Russia 1 and Channel One — did not mention the attack at all in their morning news bulletins.
But Russian state news agency RIA Novosti featured it among the main news on its website’s homepage, describing it as “one of the most large-scale attacks on Moscow since the beginning of the summer.”
State newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta on its website prominently featured a roundup of what Moscow regional Gov. Andrei Vorobyov reported about the attack, describing it as “massive” in the headline. Pro-Kremlin tabloid MK featured a news brief about it on its home page.
A Russian missile strike on the village of Pechenihy in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region killed 10 civilians, according to preliminary information, said Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration.
Another 17 people were wounded, he said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it “a brutal attack” that damaged 10 homes, a cafe, a post office, a store and at least seven vehicles, according to Syniehubov.
“We will definitely respond to this Russian strike,” he said on social media.
Also, three people were killed and three others were wounded over the past day in Russian attacks on Ukraine’s Sumy region, Ukraine’s National Police said.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who took office last month, said the U.K. will continue to stand by Ukraine after Russia said that Kyiv’s reported use of British drones for attacks on Russian soil would bring unidentified consequences.
“We are providing support so that Ukraine can defend itself, and that’s been the British position all the way through this conflict by previous prime ministers," Burnham said. “It remains the case with me.”
British newspaper The Sunday Times reported that two U.K. companies made drones used by Ukraine to hit Russia.
Following the report, the Russian Embassy in the U.K. said in a statement that “London’s actions will inevitably carry consequences.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Russian state TV that Moscow has the right to view British involvement in strikes on Russian territory as “participation in the war, with all the ensuing consequences.”
Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Brian Melley in London contributed.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
A street cleaner observes a daily nationwide minute of silence in memory of soldiers killed in the war with Russia, in Kyiv, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - In this photo, provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, rescuers carry a body that they removed from under the rubble of a private house following a Russian air attack in Pechenihy, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
A street cleaner observes a daily nationwide minute of silence in memory of soldiers killed in the war with Russia, in Kyiv, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
In this photo, provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, fire is seen on the site of a Russian air attack in Pechenihy, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo, provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, rescuers carry a body that they removed from under the rubble of a private house following a Russian air attack in Pechenihy, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov's official telegram channel, flame and smoke rise from a construction site after a Ukrainian drone attack in an undisclosed area in the Moscow region, Russia, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov's office via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, fire is seen on the site of a Russian air attack in Pechenihy, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
