▪️ The serial winner as a player and coach ▪️ The member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family ▪️ The corporate lawyer for the London-based firm that represented Sheikh Mansour ▪️ The former CFO at fashion group Puig and gas and technology firm Air Liquide From Khaldoon Al Mubarak to Roberto Mancini, Simon Pearce to Ferran Soriano, @mjshrimper profiles the principal actors in Manchester City's battle with the Premier League, one of sport’s greatest and longest-running dramas. 🔗 nyti.ms/47llBuL

So many questions abound as football digests the reality that Manchester City have been found largely guilty of financial breaches by an independent commission. Is the last-minute Sergio Aguero goal in 2012 now deemed the best of the Premier League or the worst? What do the clubs' investors, Silver Lake, make of all this? Will City's sponsors stand by them? What becomes of UAE’s vast investments in the broader region of East Manchester? And is the Premier League now at risk of full blown warfare? 📝 @AdamCrafton_ 🔗 nyti.ms/4iRBmkd

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak says the club’s “confidence” in proving their innocence is unchanged, despite being found guilty of almost all the Premier League’s charges relating to breaches of financial regulations. More from @TBurrows16 ⬇️ bit.ly/4AA2BGk

Premier League clubs are planning legal action in response to Manchester City being found guilty on almost all the charges relating to breaches of the league’s financial regulations. Several teams mobilised leading lawyers some time ago to ascertain what they may be eligible to claim for, and a number of clubs are talking to each other about this. 📝 @David_Ornstein, @Dan_Sheldon_ and @AdamCrafton_ 🔗 nyti.ms/3V90c5q

It has been described as sport's 'trial of the century'. The Premier League's case against Manchester City has taken more than three years, cost tens of millions of pounds and has featured the UK's finest legal minds. In the Premier League's corner has been Adam Lewis KC, one of the founding fathers of sports law and the organisation's go-to lawyer. Manchester City's defence has been led by Lord Pannick KC, who is arguably the UK's most distinguished barrister and has become so famous that his appointment prompted City fans to display a banner reading: 'Pannick on the streets of London'. These are the people who fought - and will continue to fight - one of football's highest-profile legal cases. 📝 @TBurrows16 🔗 nyti.ms/4hbtZ61

Paris Saint-Germain and Morocco defender Achraf Hakimi will stand trial for rape after his appeal to the highest court in France was dismissed on Wednesday. Hakimi, who is one of 30 players nominated for the Ballon D’Or ahead of next month’s ceremony in London, has now tried every possible avenue to have the case thrown out. More from @TBurrows16 ⬇️ bit.ly/3Tet4IR

“I always wanted to break records and (make sure) that people remembered my name. “But I have to be honest, I didn’t expect to be the top scorer of all time at the World Cup, at 27." @DTAthletic's exclusive interview with Kylian Mbappe. ▪️ Making World Cup history ▪️ Asking for a ‘Zidane’ haircut ▪️ Mid-air transfer talks with Liverpool ▪️ Why this could be his year for Ballon d’Or ▪️ The lure of being a ‘ghost’ ▪️Why he will never be silenced 🔗 nyti.ms/4cWI1pw

"I remember I once got hit with a house brick. I was waiting for a corner to come over, I was on the post defending it and it hit me. What makes the story funny is I shouted at the referee that I'd been hit with a brick and he went, ‘Good job it wasn't a whole one'" - Julian Dicks West Ham United & Millwall will face each other for the first time in 14 years on Saturday. @TBurrows16 and @RoshaneSport explain a long history of rivalry, riots and why it means so much to fans. nyti.ms/4cVwfvI

Oxford United has apologised and discontinued its “United 93” clothing collection, which was released close to the 25th anniversary of 9/11. United Airlines Flight 93 was among the planes hijacked by terrorists during the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States. Oxford launched its “campus collection,” a range of American-themed clothing, on Friday morning. However, it was hastily deleted following the 10 a.m. launch, as some of the NFL-style shirts in the collection bore the slogan “United 93” on the back. Oxford United was founded in 1893, and was initially known as Headington United. More from @TBurrows16 nyti.ms/3V425QG

Teesside has long experience of being talked down. The place once stood for steel, iron, coal — industry. Over 40 years that status has disappeared with the industries themselves. Teesside instead saw itself as half-forgotten by government, then the butt of jokes and disparaging coverage. Recent events have only reinforced an impression of a beaten, wild area. But as a name with national recognition, what has endured is Middlesbrough FC. There was a palpable sense on Saturday that, but for Boro’s late winner against Norwich, the mood across the region would have plummeted. It can sound overblown, but what you saw with Ashley Phillips’ 91st-minute winner was just how much Teesside hope, self-esteem and identity are invested in the football club. There are no claims that football means more on Teesside, just that, as @mwalker2771 writes, at a time like this its presence is enhanced. 🔗 nyti.ms/4yI3gnE

“There’s a big scramble now. Everyone has realised that, yes, £1m or £2m sounds really expensive as a fee when you sign an academy player, but they just have to be Championship level or above and you could make a huge profit. It’s a business within a business.” The uneasy truce is over between the biggest academies in England. For many years, there was an unofficial agreement between the big clubs in the Premier League that they would not try to sign players from each others’ academies. It was an agreement that was occasionally violated, but the ‘Big Six’ co-existed relatively peacefully. Now, no player is off the table. The Athletic has spoken to dozens of sources inside English academies and at player agencies to find out what is happening in academy recruitment and why there has been such an upsurge in players moving between big clubs. 📝 @JordanC1107 🔗 nyti.ms/4xTkXk5