Gareth Southgate has officially unveiled his 26-man World Cup squad as the Three Lions prepare to travel to Qatar.
Announced on Thursday 10 November, just 10 days before the start of the tournament itself, the England manager has finally confirmed his selection for the 2022 Qatar World Cup after having whittled down his 55-man provisional squad rumoured at the start of the month.
While Southgate has mostly stuck with his core tried and trusted group, many of which played in both the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2020 last year, some names might come as a surprise to England fans.
Right-back Reece James was sadly ruled out of the competition after it was confirmed he would not recover from his October knee injury in time for the knockout stages. However, Southgate ultimately opted not to gamble and risk the defender’s season even further.
The England boss was presented with less choice than usual at fullbacks this time around, with the likes of James and Ben Chilwell both definitely out through injury, not to mention Kyle Walker racing to be fit in time as one of the most relied-upon players in recent years.
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Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips also faced a similar scramble to get into the squad in time, having not long recovered from shoulder surgery earlier in the season but managing to return to the pitch in time for their FA Cup win over Chelsea on Wednesday.
But, fortunately, both players ended up being included in the 26-man squad.
Other notable additions include in-form Newcastle striker Callum Wilson, Leicester City’s top scorer of the 2022/23 season so far in James Maddison and Arsenal defender Ben White — all of which enjoying their first senior tournament call-up.
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Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher has also managed to make the cut despite only having made it onto the fringes of the squad in 2022, having only made four appearances for England so far.
Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has also been named in the squad, but his teammate Jadon Sancho has failed not made it after struggling to make an impact in recent weeks.
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
10th November 2022 
