Summer signing Jeremy Doku absolutely shone as Manchester City smacked six past Bournemouth at the weekend, managing to set two different Premier League records in what was just his 14th appearance in sky blue.
The rapid winger, who joined Man City from French side Stade Rennais in the most recent transfer window, has only just completed more than a dozen matches for the treble-winners and has only played eight league games and just sixth from the starting lineup.
However, it hasn’t taken the young man long to make his mark in Pep Guardiola’s side, having already impressed both domestically and in Europe, registering three goals and six assists already.
But it was Doku’s dazzling display against the Cherries on Saturday that saw him enter a very exclusive club, becoming not only the youngest person to equal the record for the most assists in a single Premier League game (four) but the youngest player to ever be involved in five goals too. Wow.
5 & 4 – With one goal and four assists at the age of 21 years and 161 days, Jérémy Doku has become both the youngest player in Premier League history with five goal involvements in a single game, as well as the youngest player to assist four goals. Griddy. pic.twitter.com/ipIAYBqK6C
Speaking after the game, his manager insisted that the youngster might have got off to a bit of a “shy” start but that not only is he “the fastest over five metres” you’ll find anywhere in Europe and is “an incredible footballer”, adding that his direct dribbling is somewhat of a rarity these days.
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Doku has no doubt given Jack Grealish a bit of a challenge on that left-hand side now too, with the Catalan coach saying that he wants the England star to be “angry” whenever he doesn’t play. You can see the full highlights from City’s 6-1 rout against Bournemouth (a.k.a. his personal showreel) below:
Perhaps the most impressive thing about Pep‘s squad is that they also recorded such a comprehensive victory without their two main goalscorers contributing to the tally on this occasion, as neither Erling Haaland nor Julian Alvarez got on the scoresheet this time.
When you have the numbers Haaland can put up, as well as an emerging striker like Alvarez, and now goals coming from everywhere else in the team too, that’s a force to be reckoned with.
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With Doku already announcing himself as a record-breaker so early into his time not only at the club but in English football in general, the Blues look like they might just have another world-beater on their hands — unlucky for everyone else in the league.
Meanwhile, over on the other side of Manchester, while Erik ten Hag’s side might have gotten back to winning ways with a dramatic late goal from captain Bruno Fernandes — who Roy Keane has argued shouldn’t even have the armband – but they’re breaking all kinds of unwanted records this season.
Featured Image — Manchester City/Jeremy Doku (via Instagram)
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 -
6th November 2023 
