Sport

Manchester United become favourites to sign Cristiano Ronaldo as City drop out

Manchester United are officially in the race, City officially drop out

The Manc The Manc - 27th August 2021

Bookies across the UK think Cristiano Ronaldo is going to Manchester United.

Skybet currently has Ronaldo odds on at 1/12 with Manchester City in second place with odds of 6/1. City’s odds have changed dramatically after a well respected source confirmed that the team has dropped out of the race.

Italian sports journalist Fabrizio Romano has been on Twitter to reveal all of this in the last few minutes.

While Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes has been in direct contact with Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, no official bid was ever lodged for the player nor were personal terms agreed between both parties.

Speaking on United’s involvement, Romano wrote on social media: “Manchester United have been in direct contact with Jorge Mendes since yesterday night for Cristiano Ronaldo comeback.

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“Now board talking about figures of the deal, potential salary & also fee for Juventus.”

All of this happened at the same time Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær had his say on the matter, stating: “Cristiano is a legend of this club, the greatest player of all time if you ask me.

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“I was fortunate enough to play with him. I coached him when I got my job. Let’s see what happens.

“We’ve always had a good communication. Bruno has been talking to him as well and he knows what we feel about him.

“If he was ever going to move away from Juventus, he knows WE ARE HERE”.

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Skybet odd on Cristiano Ronaldo joining another club before September 3

It was revealed at around 1.30pm today that Ronaldo had boarded his private jet in Turin alongside his agent, ready to leave the country. Now it seems the entire sporting world is fixated on the direction of that flight.

With nothing yet confirmed, one thing is for sure, Cristiano Ronaldo has left Juventus and is looking for a new club.

Will that club be in Manchester? Only time will tell – but things are moving very quickly, and the red half of the city are waiting with baited breath.

Sport

An official Guinness Fan Zone is coming to Manchester for the Six Nations

Danny Jones Danny Jones Six Nations fan zone Manchester

One of the biggest Guinness Fan Zones in the UK is coming to Manchester city centre for the Six Nations this February and the best part of all is, it’s absolutely free.

With the beloved rugby union tournament kicking off on Saturday, 4 February, Guinness are bringing their popular fan zone to our lovely city and just in time for the Wales vs Ireland game, not to mention England vs Scotland later the same day.

Popping up on Baring Street, Mayfield, just round the corner from Piccadilly Station, the Six Nations fan zone will be the biggest outside of London and runs all the way until Saturday 18 March.

Transformed into a dedicated space for rugby lovers to watch the match and enjoy a
fresh pint of ice-cold Guinness, the fan zone festivities don’t stop there.

Credit: Supplied

To keep the party rolling, they will also be hosting a series of interactive shows, activities and live performances, including bagpipes, Irish dancers and more. There’s even an interactive beer wall – the first one to be available outside of rugby union’s historic home at Twickenham.

Once again, general admissions tickets to the fan zone are absolutely free, but you can bag yourself a table reservation for £10 per person. Better still, for super fans, you can even grab an exclusive Season Pass for a limited time only, granting you access to all five games in the competition.

This includes a special edition team jersey, access to the best seats in the house and the first 150 customers will also get a Guinness Six Nations tote bag filled with beanies, cushions and foam fingers, even temporary tattoos and face paints for you to get your full colours on.

Last but not least, those who do grab a Season Pass will also be in with a chance to win one of Guinness’ exclusive ‘Money Can’t Buy Experiences‘, this year’s main prize being four tickets to a Six Nations match, a dressing room tour and being trusted with flag bearer duty before kick-off. Mint.

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You can even buy your own chilled Guinness MicroDraught at £10pp should you want to pour your own pint. Everyone fancies themselves an expert.

To grab yourself a spot at Guinness’s official Six Nations fan zone in Manchester, simply book via the website and we hope to see a few of you there!

Who do we reckon is taking home the trophy this year?

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Image — Supplied

Sport

Russian supporters waving Putin flags and wearing ‘Z’ war symbols questioned by police at Australian Open

Danny Jones Danny Jones Russians Putin flags Z symbols Australian Open

A number of Russian supporters attending the Australian Open were spotted waving pro-Putin flags and wearing ‘Z’ war symbols during Novak Djokovic’s match on Wednesday evening.

Spotted in the crowd whilst watching Djokovic’s quarter-final tie against Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev, the group of fans cheering on Rublev are now said to have been questioned by local police following the stunt as a further investigation is expected to be carried out.

The nine-time tournament winner might have seen off the world number six seed in straight sets to progress to the penultimate round of the major, but the controversy that the pro-war display has caused is understandably all anyone can focus on.

You can see a significant number of Russian fans chanting “Putin!” with their flags in the stands below, as well as another man clearly flaunting the ‘Z’ symbol — synonymous with the invasion of Ukraine.

According to a statement issued by Tennis Australia, four men were questioned by local authorities in Melbourne after they revealed their pro-Putin emblems and reportedly threatened security guards inside the Rod Laver Arena then they were asked to remove them.

Victoria Police have now confirmed that while charges were made, the group of supporters were quickly ejected, with Australian Open organisers reassuring that they will “continue to work closely with event security and law enforcement agencies.” 

To make matters worse, Djokovic’s father, Srđan, was later seen posing with what appears to be the same group of fans and images of Vladimir Putin outside the stadium.

The Serbian has not long put his own controversy behind him after being deported from the country due to covid regulations and his anti-vax stance last year. This surely won’t help.

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The Russian invasion has been an ongoing issue at the Open, with Russian and Belarusian players now having to compete under a neutral flag.

This comes after spectators had initially been allowed to bring any flag into the arena with them. However, following the incident, certain Russian flags are now prohibited and security guards have been provided with pamphlets in order for them to check for approved national emblems.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was both surprised and relieved to find out that Germany has confirmed they will be sending Leopard 2 tanks to bolster his country’s defences, which he only learned whilst in the middle of an interview with Sky News’ Kay Burley.

We are now approaching a year since the Russian invasion began, with Putin’s campaign having run for 11 months and 3 days.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Image — 7NEWSAustralia/@tumcarayol (via Twitter)

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