Manchester United have confirmed that defender Raphaël Varane will be leaving the club at the end of this season.
The Man United star and World Cup winner has had a largely injury-laden time in Manchester, with both he and the club agreeing that he will depart Old Trafford on a free after his contract expires this summer.
Having turned 31 in April and already retiring from international football last year in an effort to extend his career, the centre-back who won multiple titles with Real Madrid in Spain and four Champions Leagues will likely move somewhere less physically demanding than the English top-flight.
Sharing a heartfelt video message, the Frenchman thanks the supporters for an “amazing few years”, admitting, “I fell in love with the fans and the club” and adding that you can’t fully understand what it means to them until you play for them.
Varane bids a fond farewell after he confirms he will be leaving United this summer.
Going on to insist that Manchester will always be a first home for his kids and that sharing the Carabao Cup final with his teammates and Red and all the travelling fans will always be a “special memory”, it’s evident that he took the club fully into his heart.
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Varane joined United back in 2021 on a deal worth around £41 million, going on to make 93 appearances and helping them lift their major trophy in six years last season.
Even with multiple injury setbacks, he still managed to play 67 games in the Premier League, 58 from the start, and even grabbing a couple of goals to boot.
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Describing him as bringing a “great deal of class and experience”, “unflappable work at the heart of the defence” and “undoubted quality in just three short years”, the club were full of gratitude and well wishes for the rest of his career. You only have to see this clip to see the kind of relationship he had with United:
With just a trio of potential games left to play for United – Wednesday’s last home game against Newcastle, their final league match against Brighton on Sunday and the FA Cup final against Manchester City – all parties will be hoping he can sign off his time wearing Red in style.
Varane has been sidelined with his latest issue (a muscle strain) since early April, but it goes without saying that having arguably their best and most experienced defender fit for a crucial Manchester derby would be a huge boost to the United, who have racked up a laundry list of injuries all over the pitch.
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Rapha signed off by saying that he’s looking forward to saying a formal goodbye to the club tomorrow night, confessing: “It’s going to be a very emotional day for me, for sure”.
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 -
14th May 2024 
