Harry Maguire: The whirlwind assault case of the Manchester United captain
In the space of seven days since, HMaguire has been arrested, tried, found guilty of assault and bribery and launched an appeal. It's been a whirlwind.
“Last night hurt…” Harry Maguire told the football world on August 17.
Manchester United had been eliminated from the Europa League by Sevilla the previous evening, ending their hopes of lifting any silverware for the 2019/20 season.
“Time to go away, reflect, recover,” Maguire added, promising readers that his team would return stronger than ever.
Less than 96 hours later, the Old Trafford captain was being thrown into cells by Greek police.
On the night of 21 August, Maguire, his brother and a friend became embroiled in a drunken brawl with another group whilst holidaying on the island of Mykonos.
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In the space of seven days, Maguire has since been arrested, tried, found guilty of assault and bribery, and launched an appeal to maintain his innocence.
It’s been a whirlwind week that’s stunned the football world.
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Last night hurt… Time to go away, reflect, recover and be ready to come back stronger next season. Your support throughout the season has been amazing, we hope to see a full Old Trafford ASAP. We’re in this together ? #MUFCpic.twitter.com/mR6OXDzFqy
The upshot, so far, has been a 21-month prison sentence for Maguire, suspended for three years, and an ignominious removal from the England squad (which will surely be temporary).
But the case has also tattered the ‘model pro’ reputation Maguire was given by some media outlets.
Footballers misbehaving abroad is nothing new. But for some, the biggest shock of the whole ordeal is the fact that it’s wholesome character Maguire at the centre of it all.
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There are two very different sides to the story of what happened that night – and the United star maintains he and his family are “victims”.
On Thursday 21 August, plain clothes officers rushed in to halt a brawl which had broken out between two groups at a bar in Mykonos.
The confrontation was taking place between Maguire, his brother and their friend and some “Albanian” men.
Maguire’s group said they had approached two males after spotting them “inject” Maguire’s sister, Daisy, with a “rape drug”.
Daisy’s eyes were said to be “rolling back”, and Maguire bundled her into a minivan so she could return to the villa or a local hospital.
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An argument then ensued, but with no CCTV footage of the incident, it’s quickly become a classic case of ‘he-said, she-said’.
According to Greek police, Maguire started “pushing and hitting three police officers” when they arrived on the scene.
Maguire was arrested and accused of pushing one officer to the ground as he tried to resist (according to police).
After arriving at the station, a group of men nearby allegedly told Maguire “Your career is over”, before kicking his legs.
Police have offered a different version of events, even stating that Maguire attempted to bribe them by saying: “Please, let me go, I am very rich, I can pay, I am the leader of Manchester United.”
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In court, Maguire was found guilty of repeated bodily harm, attempted bribery, violence against public employees and insult.
Still, the £80m defender maintains the accusations are wrong, and his legal team have since launched an appeal.
A Manchester United statement said: “Harry has no criminal record and is once again presumed innocent until proven guilty. Accordingly, he is not subject to any international travel restrictions.”
Maguire himself has so far refused to speak to the press about the incident, and has still not posted on Twitter since expressing his pain at United’s European exit.
Little did he know that this period of reflection would go so horribly wrong.
Sport
‘Nothing is eternal’: Is Pep Guardiola hinting at the end of Manchester City’s supremacy?
Danny Jones
Pep Guardiola looks to have suggested that more than a decade of Manchester City’s supremacy and Premier League dominance at the very least might be coming to an end.
Speaking in his post-match press interviews after City were knocked out of the Champions League by serial European Cup winners Real Madrid, Guardiola cut a somewhat more deflated figure than usual following the 3-1 defeat.
A Kylian Mbappe hattrick which was closed out within an hour of play was enough to stretch the aggregate score to 6-3 over the two legs and Madrid doubling their lead across the tie proved yet again why, not unlike City domestically over the last decade, they’re the kings of the continental competition.
In contrast, however, Pep seemed to accept the loss much more easily than perhaps we’ve seen in the past and rather than appearing familiarly frustrated or defiant in the press conference; instead, he seemed rather reflective, responding to one reporter: “Nothing is eternal”.
🗣️ "Nothing is eternal" – Pep Guardiola.
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Insisting that they have to decide whether a significant rebuild is needed to keep competing at the very top level consistently as they have done since the 54-year-old arrived back in 2016, he argued that it is only with that they’ll be able to determine what comes next.
As for the result itself, he made no bones about Carlo Ancelotti’s side having “deserved it”, stating simply that “the best team won” and that fans and players alike have to “accept the reality: they were better.”
Having been a familiar foe for Pep long before he arrived in Manchester, both at Barcelona and Bayern Munich – not to mention City having faced Los Blancos a dozen times before Tuesday night since 2012 – there have been less surprising outcomes for supporters to come to terms with.
“With time, the club and everyone is going to accept what it is but for now we have 30/40 games for the Premier League next season to try and be here [in the Champions League] and to improve. Nothing is eternal”, said the Catalan coaching genius.
On the other hand, he also went on to add that it was merely a reflection on the night itself and not what his team have achieved in recent years.
He went on to remark that “when we were playing outstanding it hurt more” to be knocked out of the UCL when he felt they deserved to stay in it, but still insisted: “We have been unbelievable and we have to try step by step to get better from today.” Tonight just wasn’t the night.
Who knows? Perhaps it was just some more melodrama from a manager with an undeniable flare for pageantry and playing into/in the face of narratives when he doesn’t come out on top – which hasn’t happened all that often until their dip in form this season.
Plus, there’s certainly still plenty for him and the fans to be positive about; not only has the arrival of their ‘Egyptian Prince’ and the media’s Mo Salah successor, Omar Marmoush, got plenty of people excited – especially after that first-half hattrick against Newcastle – but so too have the other January signings.
In fact, for all of his downplaying in this particular presser (which you can hear in full HERE), it felt like there were only upsides after their victory over Newcastle, even going so far as to dub new signing Nico Gonzalez a ‘mini-Rodri‘.
You can watch the highlights from the game down below:
Pep is right, nothing is eternal – but sometimes you just come up against talents like Mbappe and there’s very little anyone can do about it.
Sale Sharks sign highly-rated Harlequins hooker, Nathan Jibulu
Danny Jones
Sale Sharks are investing in youth with their latest bit of transfer business after signing one of the Harlequins’ hottest prospects, Nathan Jibulu.
The highly-rated hooker, who has already nine appearances this season, including more than half a dozen in the Gallagher Premiership, has been exciting plenty of scouts throughout rugby union and is already firmly in national team plans.
Having already been part of the England Under-20 and A squads, not to mention impressing at club level in a relatively short space of time, it’s a big coup for Sale.
From the Quins academy to the right side of Shark-infested waters.
Jibulu joined the Twickenham-based outfit back in 2022 just a year after they won their second English championship (a full decade since their first) after previously attending Seaford College and representing nearby Wimbledon Warriors.
However, now the six-foot and seriously strong forward will be swapping the life near the capital for the North and Greater Manchester, specifically.
Set to join Sale Sharks for the 2025/26 season – scheduled to kick off in September – he’s looking like a really strong addition to their front row and a future squads to come.
Speaking to the club in an official statement, he said: “When I was younger, whenever someone asked me, ‘what team would you want to play for?’ I’d always say Sale…
“I’ve scrummed a lot with Asher [Opoku-Fordjour] and I got to know him pretty well. I always tell him how special and different he is, and I can’t wait to play with him.
“The way the club has developed him and nurtured him to become an established Premiership and England player speaks volumes about the coaching and the support that he’s getting at Sale.
“The entire front row is in the England squad, with the Curry boys too, so that tells you that someone at the club is doing something right. I looked at that and I said, ‘why would you not want to be there?’”
Still just 22 years old and having made just as many appearances for his soon-to-be former club, Sale weren’t the only ones chasing his signature.
Jibulu went on to add: “I love those games where you go toe-to-toe physically, so all of that attracted me straight away, and then speaking to people who are there already, they said all the stuff that I really like so it was a no brainer when the opportunity came about.”
As for his impending coach, Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson said: “Nathan is really driven, he understands what he wants from his life and his career, and he knows how he’s going to get it.
“He’s a young lad but he’s incredibly mature and he’s got the game and the physical attributes to match. I’ve got no doubt he’ll play for England in the future and we’re really excited to bring him to the club.”
Currently sat seventh in the table after another at times promising but somewhat frustrating start to the year, the summer can’t come soon enough for Sale.
The Manc -
27th August 2020 
