Amidst a whirlwind day of news over at Old Trafford, Manchester City legend Vincent Kompany managed to get in a sly dig against outgoing Cristiano Ronaldo.
Not long after the news of Ronaldo‘s departure from Manchester United for a second time and just hours before it was announced that the Glazer family could be willing to sell the club after 17 years, Kompany was on the panel for France’s World Cup opener against Australia.
The reigning world champions went on to win the game 4-1, but the 37-year-old’s abrupt exit was naturally a massive talking point amongst the pundits.
With that in mind, lead anchor Gary Lineker posed the question, “Would you take him at Burnley?”. The former City star’s answer was priceless.
I mean, whether you’re a United fan or not, he’s got a point.
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Kompany was appointed as manager of Burnley FC back in June of this year and currently has the Lancashire-based club on track for a Premier League return, sitting three points clear of Sheffield United at the top of the table.
Notably, he has also helped change the playstyle significantly, dominating possession significantly (averaging 63.1% per game) and completely overhauling their passing stats and pressing off the ball.
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In contrast, while Ronaldo has been in the team this season, United have covered less distance and averaged around two fewer points per game.
A workhorse he may have once been and clearly still in immense physical condition, but as Ronaldo has gotten older, his game has naturally had to change and it seems apparent that so did his desire to play for United.
The footballing veteran and sporting icon is now set to leave the club that launched his career following a turbulent second spell during which he took aim at the manager and ownership, as well as several current and former players.
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Although he is obviously away with Portugal in Qatar, it is rumoured that Ronaldo’s next destination could be either Newcastle United or a move to their owners’ country of origin, as he told Piers Morgan that he received several offers over the past year.
Cristiano Ronaldo is torn between Newcastle United and Al-Nassr FC [@jfelixdiaz]
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 -
23rd November 2022 
