Manchester United are under the spotlight once again after they reportedly scrapped their plans to wear LGBTQ+ jackets prior to their game against Everton this past weekend after defender Noussair Mazraoui said he wasn’t prepared to wear them.
The club had initially planned to walk out of the tunnel wearing a special Adidas design in support of LGBTQ+ fans, but the Mazraoui said he wouldn’t wear the jacket due to his religion.
Born in Morrocco and into the Muslim faith – which does not approve of homosexuality and various other aspects within the queer community – the 27-year-old obviously didn’t feel comfortable taking part on religious grounds.
As a result, as per The Athletic, the rest of the team voted against taking part in the observance altogether, walking out instead in their usual pre-match attire.
Man United players abandoned plan to walk out in Adidas jackets in support of LGBTQ+ v Everton after Noussair Mazraoui cited religious concerns. Team decided nobody would wear it so that Mazraoui not seen as only one to refuse https://t.co/alEXW0S9gr
According to writer Adam Crafton, the U-turn was made just hours before kick-off, with the squad deciding that “no players would wear the tracksuit so that Mazraoui would not be the only one seen publicly refusing to wear it.”
Man United have worn colourful pre-match jerseys, armbands and more on various occasions in the past as part of the Premier League’s ongoing Rainbow Laces campaign, with the squad donning a previous version of the special LGBTQ Adidas jackets just last season before Mazraroui signed for the club.
However, it now looks as though this specific show of support could be sidelined indefinitely given Mazraroui’s place in the team, having emerged not only as a starter but one of the most popular and in-form players, dubbed by many as one of their shrewdest signings in years.
Meanwhile, responding to the reports, the club told the outlet: “Manchester United welcomes fans from all backgrounds, including members of the LGBTQ+ community, and we are strongly committed to the principles of diversity and inclusion.
“We demonstrate these principles through a range of activities, including support for our Rainbow Devils supporters’ club, and campaigns to celebrate our LGBTQ+ fans and combat all forms of discrimination. Players are entitled to hold their own individual opinions, particularly in relation to their faith, and these may sometimes differ from the club’s position.”
However, the show of solidarity from the players with their team-mate in this instance and the choice not to take part has come under fire from an understandably passionate section of fans, especially given Greater Manchester’s long-standing LGBTQ ambassadorship and annual Pride celebrations.
Fk United.
I tell you, this year's Rainbow Laces campaign is highlighting how wafer-thin certain clubs' support for representing diversity and minorities has always been. United has still never had a float at Manchester Pride.
Naturally, not everyone is in agreeance. Football content presenter and producer Bruno Quinney wrote: “One thing for Mazraoui to refuse but even worse for the whole team to follow. Even from a PR perspective alone, this is dreadful.
On the other hand, another account said in response to United’s statement: “Was never this deep, United are so inclusive and work hard for the LGBTQ+ community and provide a safe place for them (rightly so), one person’s symbolism should not scatter the hard work in place.”
Although United have obviously insisted they will continue to support the likes of the Rainbow Devils Supporters’ Club – MUFC’s official LGBTQ+ trust which proudly flies its banner at Old Trafford week in and week out – the decision has of course come as a difficult one for many to accept.
Sharing an official response on Wednesday, the group wrote: “We respect the right of this player to have his own views, whilst also feeling disappointed that he put the rest of the squad into a position where they felt that they couldn’t wear their jackets. We also worry what kind of negative effect this incident might have on any player at the club who may be struggling with their sexuality.
“Rainbow Devils will continue to work with Manchester United to support inclusivity, through the One Love initiative and others, as we all continue our work to ensure all LGBTQ+ people feel safe and welcome at Old Trafford, both on and off the pitch.”
Pep Guardiola hints at when Manchester City fans can expect to see their latest arrival
Danny Jones
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has given supporters a rough timeline as to when they can expect to see their new signing, or at least their latest arrival, make his first appearance.
The Blues wrapped up the January transfer window with four major signings: their new attacking number seven, Omar Marmoush (who has already bagged a hattrick on his home debut) promising defensive duo, Abdukodir Khusanov and Brazilian Vitor Reis, as well as their ‘mini-Rodri’, Nico Gonzalez.
However, the club has had another late arrival who was technically signed back at the start of last year but who has spent for the last 12 months or so loaned back to his previous parent club, River Plate in Argentina, waiting to make the move over to the Etihad Stadium – and now he’s here in Manchester.
Speaking on his touchdown in 0161, Pep said Claudio Echeverri won’t be thrown into first-team action straight away but did give a rough estimate as to when City fans could expect him to get involved. You can see him discussing the integration plan in his post-match press conference following the Spurs win.
The mention was only brief but there’s still plenty of reason for Man City fans to be excited by the late January signing.
“Yeah, he [Claudio Echeverri] is going to start to train and mainly will be for the end of the season, maybe the [Club] World Cup and as soon as possible [that] he arrives he can adapt quick for the future.”
As mentioned, the 19-year-old Argentinian attacking midfielder from Resistencia officially put pen to paper with CFG back in January 2024 and was quickly dubbed ‘the next Messi’.
Now, although the football world is often quick to jump the gun with these things and he isn’t the first and certainly won’t be last to be slapped with this premature title, he’s done more to back up these claims since then than he has rubbish them.
Starring at the 2025 Under-20 South American Championships, netting six goals in nine games to finish the tournament as the second highest scorer thanks to notable braces against Brazil and Uruguay as the young Argentine’s finished as runners up.
He also notched 48 senior appearances for River Plate thus far, netting four goals and grabbing eight assists in that time, not to mention having already captained his national team at the 2023 Under 17s World Cup, where he scored another five.
Safe to say there’s plenty of talent to be tapped in this lad.
Once again, Echeverri won’t go straight into the senior set-up for a little while yet, barring a major injury crisis, but he’ll be a more than exciting addition to the City Football Academy and for future first-team lineups for years to come.
Who knows, maybe he’ll be included in an FA Cup matchday squad? Nevertheless, you can expect him to not just come of the bench but hopefully show what he can do at the Club World Cup this summer.
City‘s first fixture as reigning champions of the competition will be against Moroccan side Wydad AC on 18 June 2025.
You can watch Echeverri’s first full interview as a Man City player down below:
The new Man City signing is excited to be finally be part of the club 13 months on from agreeing his contract.
‘Nothing is eternal’: Is Pep Guardiola hinting at the end of Manchester City’s supremacy?
Danny Jones
Pep Guardiola looks to have suggested that more than a decade of Manchester City’s supremacy and Premier League dominance at the very least might be coming to an end.
Speaking in his post-match press interviews after City were knocked out of the Champions League by serial European Cup winners Real Madrid, Guardiola cut a somewhat more deflated figure than usual following the 3-1 defeat.
A Kylian Mbappe hattrick which was closed out within an hour of play was enough to stretch the aggregate score to 6-3 over the two legs and Madrid doubling their lead across the tie proved yet again why, not unlike City domestically over the last decade, they’re the kings of the continental competition.
In contrast, however, Pep seemed to accept the loss much more easily than perhaps we’ve seen in the past and rather than appearing familiarly frustrated or defiant in the press conference; instead, he seemed rather reflective, responding to one reporter: “Nothing is eternal”.
🗣️ "Nothing is eternal" – Pep Guardiola.
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Insisting that they have to decide whether a significant rebuild is needed to keep competing at the very top level consistently as they have done since the 54-year-old arrived back in 2016, he argued that it is only with that they’ll be able to determine what comes next.
As for the result itself, he made no bones about Carlo Ancelotti’s side having “deserved it”, stating simply that “the best team won” and that fans and players alike have to “accept the reality: they were better.”
Having been a familiar foe for Pep long before he arrived in Manchester, both at Barcelona and Bayern Munich – not to mention City having faced Los Blancos a dozen times before Tuesday night since 2012 – there have been less surprising outcomes for supporters to come to terms with.
“With time, the club and everyone is going to accept what it is but for now we have 30/40 games for the Premier League next season to try and be here [in the Champions League] and to improve. Nothing is eternal”, said the Catalan coaching genius.
On the other hand, he also went on to add that it was merely a reflection on the night itself and not what his team have achieved in recent years.
He went on to remark that “when we were playing outstanding it hurt more” to be knocked out of the UCL when he felt they deserved to stay in it, but still insisted: “We have been unbelievable and we have to try step by step to get better from today.” Tonight just wasn’t the night.
Who knows? Perhaps it was just some more melodrama from a manager with an undeniable flare for pageantry and playing into/in the face of narratives when he doesn’t come out on top – which hasn’t happened all that often until their dip in form this season.
Plus, there’s certainly still plenty for him and the fans to be positive about; not only has the arrival of their ‘Egyptian Prince’ and the media’s Mo Salah successor, Omar Marmoush, got plenty of people excited – especially after that first-half hattrick against Newcastle – but so too have the other January signings.
In fact, for all of his downplaying in this particular presser (which you can hear in full HERE), it felt like there were only upsides after their victory over Newcastle, even going so far as to dub new signing Nico Gonzalez a ‘mini-Rodri‘.
You can watch the highlights from the game down below:
Pep is right, nothing is eternal – but sometimes you just come up against talents like Mbappe and there’s very little anyone can do about it.
Danny Jones -
4th December 2024 
