I was strictly instructed by my ever-patient editor to close this blog at 5.05pm. So with that, please allow me to bid you all farewell and offer my thanks for all your contributions. It’s been another frenetic Friday football blog, the kind of which I always enjoy. And what a weekend we’ve got ahead of us.
Given the time, I’ll leave you with this certified banger. The knife twists at the thought that I should fall short of the mark.
And here’s the full story from Pep Guardiola’s presser via our Manchester man Jamie Jackson.