Eight different Manchester players have been named on the 2023 Ballon d’Or shortlist, with Manchester City claiming the most nominations this year.
The 30-strong list of potential Ballon d’Or winners was released on Wednesday, 6 September and following their incredible treble-winning season, it’s no surprise that there were a fair few Man City stars named among the candidates.
Boasting seven out of the 30 names — four more than next best club, Real Madrid, who earned three thanks to new signing Jude Bellingham — City saw main marksman Erling Haaland recognised for the goalscoring robot that he is, as well as three midfidlers, two defenders and another forward.
Haaland, strike partner Julian Alvarez and Kevin de Bruyne; Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias and new boy Josko Gvardiol were all nominated, as well as three women’s players: Yui Hasegawa, Jill Roord and Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw.
7️⃣ City stars have been nominated for this year's Men's @ballondor! 🙌
Ederson is also nominated for the Yachine Trophy 🧤
Pep Guardiola’s side cleaned up when it came to nominations.
As for down the road at Old Trafford, the majority of Manchester United squad have been snubbed at this year’s Ballon d’Or awards, with only new goalkeeper André Onana included on the shortlist for his efforts with Inter Milan last season, where he won the 2022/23 Coppa Italia.
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Things were a little better when it came to the Man United women’s team though, as both England keeper Mary Earps and newly signed, not to mention World Cup golden boot-winner, Hinata Miyazawa, were named on the shortlist for this year’s Ballon d’Or Feminin.
In fact, a number of Lionesses were littered throughout this years nominations, with Earps being joined by the likes of Rachel Daly, Georgia Stanway and captain Millie Bright following their respective domestic seasons and incredible Women’s World Cup campaign.
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You can see the 2023 Ballon d’Or shortlist in full down below.
Other notable exclusions included Cristiano Ronaldo, who was left out for the first time in two decades, Liverpool no.1 Allisson, City keeper Ederson, Declan Rice and several other big Premier League names.
This year’s Ballon d’Or ceremony will be taking place at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris on October 30.
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Last year’s Yashin Trophy (the men’s award) went to European veteran Karim Benzema while the women’s Ballon d’Or went to Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas for the second year running.
We have a feeling that big bloke with the long blonde hair already has his name on one of those trophies…
Featured Image — Erling Haaland/Lionel Messi/André Onana/Man City (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 -
7th September 2023 
