Manchester City have included a Manchester United-related sell-on clause in Brahim Diaz’s Real Madrid transfer, Goal has learned.Brahim, 18, is poised to move to Santiago Bernabeu in a deal worth an initial £15.5 million ($19m), plus £6.5m in add-ons.City have also agreed a clause with Madrid that entitles them to 15 per cent of any future transfer fee, should the forward sign for another club in the future. Article continues below Editors’ Picks ‘There is no creativity’ – Can Solskjaer get Man Utd scoring freely again? ‘Everyone legged it on to the pitch!’ – How Foden went from Man City superfan to future superstar Emery out of jail – for now – as brilliant Pepe papers over Arsenal’s cracks What is Manchester United’s ownership situation and how would Kevin Glazer’s sale of shares affect the club? But not every club.City have also included an agreement whereby they would receive 40% of any future transfer fee… if Brahim were to join Manchester United.Brahim joined City from Malaga as a 14-year-old and was regarded as one of the club’s academy graduates with the best prospects of making an impact in the first-team.There is no buy-back clause included in his transfer, but the Blues have ensured they will benefit in some way if the winger goes on to seal a big-money transfer elsewhere.The Spanish forward would have been out of contract at the Etihad Stadium in the summer, and refused to commit to a new deal with the Premier League club because he did not believe he would get enough first-team opportunities in the coming years.City made a number of big offers in a bid to retain Brahim’s services, but were unable to convince him that he will play more in first-team football than he will in Madrid.
Despite the Blues’ failure to persuade one of their highest-rated youngsters to stay, they are understood to be happy with the terms of the transfer, and believe many of the additional add-ons, which would take the overall value of the deal above £20m, are achievable.City will receive more money once Brahim plays a certain amount of games for Madrid, plus an extra instalment if he signs a new contract in the Spanish capital.Madrid have promised Brahim that he will be part of their first-team plans for the rest of the season, and he could make his debut in the Copa del Rey clash with Leganes next Wednesday.Brahim’s contribution will be assessed in the summer and a decision will then be made over whether he is sent out on loan or kept in the squad for next season.Goal revealed on Friday that Brahim’s advisors weighed up the possible impact of Jose Mourinho taking over at the Bernabeu before signing off on the deal.Sources close to the player do not believe that Mourinho is likely to replace Santi Solari at the end of the season, however, and a final agreement with the Champions League holders was reached at the end of 2018.
Fueled by some early hitting and a strong performance from freshman right-hander Jake Post, the Ohio State baseball team defeated Marshall, 5-0, on Wednesday. “All (the offense) need to do is support this pitching staff and crunch out a few runs,” said OSU head coach Greg Beals. “You give that group of pitchers a four-run lead right off the bat, it’s going to be a tough ball game.” The Buckeyes wasted no time to take the lead, scoring four runs in the first inning. Redshirt senior center fielder Joe Ciamacco started the top of the first by singling to center field. After he stole second, redshirt senior infielder Ryan Cypret followed with a base hit to right center, scoring Ciamacco. After senior infielder Kirby Pellant was retired on a pop up, sophomore right fielder Pat Porter reached on an error when Marshall sophomore shortstop Sergio Leon slipped trying to field a groundball. In the next at bat, freshman infielder Jacob Bosiokovic scorched a double to deep left center to score the runners and put OSU up, 3-0. Marshall redshirt sophomore pitcher Kyle Kessler was then replaced by senior right-hander Matt Hummel. A wild pitch by Hummel allowed Bosiokovic to cross the plate for the Buckeyes’ fourth run of the inning. The Buckeyes threatened again in the bottom half of the second by putting three runners on base, but they were unable to get them home. A lightning delay in the middle of the third halted action for 40 minutes before play was resumed at 8:05 p.m. The delay did not seem to slow the OSU offense down, however, as they were able to tack on another run in the bottom of the fourth. Leading off, freshman infielder Troy Kuhn narrowly beat out a groundball that deflected off of Marshall senior first baseman Nathan Gomez’s glove for a single. A stolen base advanced Kuhn to second before redshirt senior first baseman Brad Hallberg was able to knock him in with a base hit up the middle. Ciamacco said that the offense is starting to realize what it does best. “Our coaches always talk about our identity as a team, and I mean, for a lot of us, we’re a whole bunch of speed guys,” Ciamacco said. “We just need to put the ball in play and let our wheels do the talking for us.” Post (2-0), tossed five scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out four batters. Despite a solid outing, the right-hander thought he had more gas left in the tank. “I felt like I could have went longer,” Post said. “Either way the coaches were just concerned with the gap, you know sit down for a while and pick it up. They just wanted me to take it easy.” In relief, the quartet of sophomore Ryan Riga, redshirt senior David Fathalikhani, redshirt junior Tyler Giannonatti and sophomore Trace Dempsey sustained the shutout for the Buckeyes. With the win, OSU improves to 21-10 on the season while Marshall, which used eight pitchers in the game, dropped to 13-19. The Buckeyes are set to travel to Lincoln, Neb., over the weekend for a three-game series against the Cornhuskers. The first game is scheduled to begin at 5:05 p.m. on Friday.