An American tourist’s chaotic trip to Manchester has gone viral after he documented the whole thing in a TikTok vlog.
Adeib El Masri, a successful LA-based photographer and TikToker with more than a million followers, said that our city was like ‘a different world’.
He has previously been documenting his experiences of visiting London, including several vlogs about the British weather.
Over the course of two days spent up north, Adeib appeared baffled by the concepts of queueing, fairgrounds, and people being nice to each other.
His pair of heart-warming videos have amassed more than half-a-million views at the time of writing.
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At St Peter’s SquareAt the Trafford CentreInside Dog BowlAmerican photographer Adeib El Masri documented his trip to Manchester in a two-part vlog. Credit: TikTok, @adeibb
In the first instalment, Adeib films himself at Manchester Piccadilly, saying: “I’m in Manchester. It looks kind of the same except all the buses are free apparently.”
From his taxi, he adds: “Everyone is so much nicer here, I can already tell.”
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He then takes a trip to ‘Trafford Mall’, where his visit to the cruise ship-inspired food court The Orient prompts him to say: “This mall has the most Vegas vibes ever. Like ever.”
On his second TikTok vlog, he praises Manchester for being ‘so pretty’ while walking through Chinatown, and says we have our ‘own Big Ben’ in the Kimpton Clocktower.
Adeib and his friends tried to go for afternoon tea at an undisclosed location, but were turned away for not booking 24 hours in advance (‘very pretentious’, he says) and end up visiting a local Costa instead.
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He then documents his trip to a fairground, where everything about the experience seems to delight and confuse him.
He says: “So guess who’s at a carnival! So it’s not a carnival, it’s a parking lot.
“There’s a child running the stands. I’m very confused.
“Moral of the story, check where the funfair is, it could be a parking lot that isn’t a real funfair.”
Fairground disappointment aside, he does concede: “You know what, Manny is a 10 out of 10, d’you know what I mean.”
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He later says, on a visit to Dog Bowl: “To save the day I decided to go bowling. Bowling is not available. It’s fine,” before heading to Nando’s.
Once safely back in London, he updated his followers with this: “Manchester was like a different world. Everyone is much nicer, like genuinely out-of-their-way nice, which is bizarre.
“Literally nothing went right in Manchester. I was there for like a day and a half, I almost got deported. Let’s just not get into it.
“Will I be returning? Probably not.”
Featured image: TikTok, @adeibb
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Salford City FC have been bought out by a new consortium
Danny Jones
Another era beckons for Salford City as a buyout of the Greater Manchester football club by a new consortiumhas been announced.
Well, sort of.
Salford City FC were famously the subject of a joint takeover by Singaporean businessman Peter Lim and members of Manchester United’s Class of ’92 over a decade ago, and now 11 years on from that last milestone moment in their history, the local side has a new administration once again.
It is a fresh chapter for the club, but supporters will be glad to hear that there will also be some continuity and key throughline of consistency among some of those at the top.
Salford City announces that the Club has been acquired by a new ownership group led by David Beckham and Gary Neville, and includes US-based businessman Declan Kelly and Lord Mervyn Davies who will both serve as new Co-Chairs of the Club’s board.
Led by Man United legends Gary Neville and David Beckham, who have been involved with Salford since 2014, the new nine-member consortium consists of the Dream Sports Group – a leading sports technology company based in India – along with a number of other key figures.
One of those is Lord Mervyn Davies, a former Labour MP and Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Small Business, who still serves as a trade envoy between the UK and Sri Lanka.
Another is Irish-American entrepreneur Declan Kelly, who is Chairman and CEO of The Consello Group, a global advisory and investing firm.
While the previous co-owners and fellow Class of ’92 United graduates are no longer shareholders at Moor Lane, it is said they will still play important roles at the club.
As the official statement reads, “The acquisition includes a commitment by the new shareholders to invest significantly in the Club, the team and its facilities”, meaning there will funds will likely be sweet aside not only for some healthy transfer business but more updates to the Peninsula Stadium.
Commenting on the announcement, Neville said: “I’m passionate about Salford City. This is a unique partnership with a diverse range of minds and expertise, held together by a love of football.
“Football will come first, however, it’s critical that we drive the Club towards sustainability in the next 4-5 years. I can’t wait for the next part of this journey.”
Meanwhile, Beckham went on to add in the excitable Instagram post seen above: “Salford played such an important role in my life growing up… It’s where I trained with United alongside my best mates every day, it’s where I bought my first house and where me and Victoria lived.
“I’m so proud to be part of a new ownership group alongside my mate [Neville] as we begin the next chapter of Salford’s journey. Football is at the heart of this community and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the Ammies.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær says just three players have spoken to him since leaving Manchester United
Danny Jones
Club legend and ex-Manchester United player turned manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, has revealed that just three of his former players have been in touch since leaving Old Trafford.
Solskjær was sacked from the role as Man United head coach back in November 2021 after having been given the job permanently following an impressive winning run as interim manager.
The practically perfect start back at the helm of the club – where he starred as the ‘super sub’ during his playing days – was followed by a big slump, and the final decision was ultimately made in the wake of a 4-1 loss to Watford.
However, the ‘Baby-Faced Assassin’s’ popularity among the players and the fans alike was never in question, so it’s come as somewhat of a surprise to many fans that Solskjær has said only a specific trio of United players have got in touch with him since his dream job came to an end.
At least two of the names read out might not surprise fans, as not only was then-club captain Harry Maguire one of his first statement signings, but so was Bruno Fernandes, who now has the armband, and both have remained key players and leadership figures pretty much ever since.
Speaking to BBC Sport on the senior duo, Ole said, “For me, Harry has always been a leader and a fighter”, and never had any doubts about him deputising for him on the pitch, before going on to label both the centre-back and Bruno as “top human beings.”
As for the third, although Victor Lindelöf looks set to leave the club this summer, he’s actually been a long-serving squad member, having joined back in 2017 and been a seemingly popular figure around the dressing room, even if injury problems have sometimes hampered his minutes.
He also went on to discuss other matters regarding the club, including confessing that it’s “hard to watch” United amidst their present struggles, both under previous manager Erik ten Hag and now Ruben Amorim – even with a potential Europa League trophy consolation on the cards.
The retired striker also stated that he found the decision to let midfielder Scott McTominay go more than surprising, especially given the incredible performances he’s put on display since moving to Serie A.
Daisy Jackson -
23rd September 2022 
