Manchester United midfielder Hannibal Mejbri has officially joined Burnley FC and the reveal video following the signing is absolutely class.
Announcement videos have become part and parcel of the modern transfer window; you can either go bid dramatic, name in headlights with their reveals or the much preferred tongue-in-cheek comedic approach – but you have to nail it if you’re going for the latter.
With that in mind, the Lancashire side confirmed the promising central-mid on Wednesday morning, 28 August, with an absolute tap-in of a pop culture parody.
But we’ll warn you, if you thought this was going in the admittedly very obvious Silence of Lambs direction, you’re wrong…
Yes, with earth-shattering news of the Oasis reunion dropping just yesterday, the marketing and media team over at Burnley saw a golden opportunity to welcome the new boy from Manchester with one of the most iconic rock socks of all time.
‘Wonderwall’ might be so ubiquitous that it borders on being skippable whenever it comes on these days (think ‘Mr Brightside’) but, on this occasion, the 21-year-old’s name made for a perfect play on words that couldn’t be passed up.
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We still maintain wheeling him out in a straitjacket and wearing a metal mask would’ve been funnier, though, even if it is low-hanging fruit, but we’ll let them off.
The French-born Tunisian international is the latest squad player to leave Man United this summer as part of a mass rebuild, joining the Clarets for an initial fee of £5.4 million though the deal could rise up to £9.4m with additional sell-on and buy-back clauses.
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Sharing a heartfelt goodbye post on social media, he wrote: “It’s been an honour to represent this incredible club for the past five years. I leave with so many special memories. Making my debut, scoring at Old Trafford and representing United in the Champions League.
“I’ll forever be grateful to the many staff and players who have helped me to develop and grow from a boy to the man that I am today.” Hannibal joined Old Trafford from Monaco as a youth player in 2019 and went on to make 13 appearances for the first team amidst two loan spells at Birmingham and Sevilla.
Meanwhile, as Hannibal departs and long-serving academy graduate turned first-team regular Scott McTominay is also expected to leave, United are also preparing to announce their latest arrival.
Featured Images — Ardfern (via Wikimedia Commons)/Burnley FC (via X)
Sport
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 -
28th August 2024 
