Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy has been found not guilty of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.
The verdict was delivered at Chester Crown Court on Friday following a six-month trial.
French full-back Mendy was found not guilty of six counts of rape allegedly committed against four women and a further count of sexual assault alleged to have been committed against a fifth woman.
The jury were unable to were unable to reach an agreement on one further count of rape, and another count of attempted rape.
Mendy had been charged following allegations of attacks on five women between October 2020 and August 2021.
Co-defendant Louis Saha Matturie was found not guilty of three counties of rape. Jurors could not reach verdicts on three counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault against him.
The prosecution will seek a retrial on the counts the jury could not reach verdicts on.
Mendy was suspended by Premier League City champions in August 2021, when he was remanded in custody. The 28-year-old was released from prison last January.
City said in a statement on Friday: "Manchester City FC notes the verdict from Chester Crown Court today, where a jury has found Benjamin Mendy not guilty of seven charges.
"The jury is hung on two charges and the trial is now over.
"Given there are open matters related to this case, the Club is not in a position to comment further at this time."
City boss Pep Guardiola was asked about Mendy at his press conference, which took place shortly after the verdicts.
He said: "The club have made a statement. I'm not allowed to say anything else. Please take the statement like my words."
Everyone wants to beat Leverkusen, says Alonso ahead of Frankfurt clash
Bayer Leverkusen continue to edge towards a remarkable unbeaten season and Xabi Alonso acknowledged every club wants to put that run to an end.
The newly-crowned Bundesliga champions moved a step closer to a treble after beating Roma 2-0 away in their Europa League semi-final first leg on Thursday.
Alonso's side have also reached the DFB-Pokal final against Kaiserslautern as their extraordinary 47-game unbeaten run continues across all competitions.
Leverkusen, who ended Bayern Munich's 11-year stranglehold on the Bundesliga title to secure their first trophy since 1993, travel to sixth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.
"We want to stay unbeaten and we know every week it gets tougher. Everyone wants to beat us," Alonso told reporters.
"It hasn't been easy in Frankfurt in recent years, they've always a tough opponent with a flexible system of play. We don't have much time to prepare."
The 42-year-old Spaniard will be watching the Frankfurt game from the stands after receiving his fourth yellow card of the season during his side's 2-2 home draw with Stuttgart last week.
"You can see the game better from the stands and I can communicate with the bench," he said.
"I will miss the direct contact with the team during the game but the players are intelligent enough to decide situations individually on the pitch."
Ricketts congratulates 'Bunny' Shaw on FWA Women's Player of the Year award
Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president Michael Ricketts saluted Reggae Girl and Manchester City striker Khadija “Bunny” Shaw on her latest accomplishment of being voted the Football Writers’ Association (FWA) Women’s Player of the Year for the 2023-24 season.
Shaw won the women’s Footballer of the Year award with 80 per cent of the voters opting for either the Manchester City striker or Chelsea’s Lauren James. James finished runner-up with another Manchester City standout Alex Greenwood finishing third. Yui Hasegawa, Elisabeth Terland and Khiara Keating completed the top six.
In a release on Friday, Ricketts pointed out that the award spoke volumes of Shaw's impact on Manchester City's Women's Super League charge, as she has been a model of consistency since joining the Gareth Taylor-coached club in 2021. Her performances have placed Manchester City on the brink of securing their first WSL title since 2016.
“This award is a beautiful feather in her cap and a massive advertisement for Jamaica’s football,” Ricketts said.
“I am happy to see the consistency in quality shown by Khadija. She has always been a top player, but her standard has risen a notch this season. This augurs well for the national team in the future. We wish her all the best on the road to recovery,” he added.
Prior to Shaw sustaining a broken foot during her last Women’s Super League match against West Ham, the Reggae Girls captain scored 21 goals, which were complemented by three assists in 18 games this season.
Shaw is the third Jamaican-born individual to have won the award after John Barnes (1987-88, 1989-90) and Raheem Sterling in 2019.
However, she is the first national representative to receive the honour, as both Barnes and Sterling were England internationals when they earned the recognition.
Guardiola says Man City must prove themselves all over again in title race
Pep Guardiola says Manchester City's players cannot dine out on their past achievements and must prove themselves all over again in their last four games of the Premier League season, starting against Wolves on Saturday.
The title race remains in City's hands despite Arsenal leading the way by a single point, with Guardiola's men possessing a game in hand as they chase a fourth successive crown.
After welcoming Wolves to the Etihad Stadium, they face back-to-back trips to London to take on Fulham and Tottenham, then host West Ham on the final day.
Guardiola says City – who should have Ederson, Ruben Dias and Phil Foden back on Saturday – cannot assume this title rice will go the same way as others.
"We have to prove it tomorrow against Wolves and then in the next games," Guardiola said.
"We know we have to win and get all 12 points, otherwise it will be difficult because Arsenal are so strong and so consistent. It's difficult to drop points.
"It depends on us. It's just tomorrow and then three games in one week, no more complicated than that to analyse.
"I would love to say what we have done in the past is going to happen this season, but nobody knows."
Wolves, meanwhile, are still eyeing a top-half finish after halting a six-game winless run by beating struggling Luton Town 2-1 at Molineux last week, with goals from Hwang Hee-chan and Toti Gomes.
A spate of injuries saw their European hopes slip away, but with Pedro Neto back in full training alongside Hwang and Matheus Cunha, they could start with their first-choice front three for the first time since October.
Boss Gary O'Neil, who will serve a one-match touchline ban on Saturday, said: "To have all the senior players back and the group starting to look stronger again takes me back to October and how we felt at that moment.
"So we're looking forward to seeing them all back together."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Manchester City – Kevin De Bruyne
De Bruyne has started six Premier League matches against Wolves, recording five goals and five assists against them, though nine of those involvements came at Molineux (five goals, four assists).
The Belgian also laid on two assists against Nottingham Forest last week to move to 110 overall in the Premier League – just one behind second-placed Cesc Fabregas in the all-time rankings.
Wolves – Hwang Hee-chan
Hwang scored 10 Premier League goals before the turn of the year, then went exactly four months without a goal due to international duty and injuries before netting against Luton last week.
Both he and Cunha have 11 Premier League goals this season, and there have only been three previous instances of a player netting more for the club in a single campaign – Steven Fletcher in 2011-12 (12) and Raul Jimenez in both 2018-19 (13) and 2019-20 (17).
MATCH PREDICTION – MANCHESTER CITY WIN
Wolves inflicted City's first defeat of the Premier League season back in September, and they now have the chance to complete just their second top-flight double over them since 1960-61, having previously achieved the feat in 2019-20.
However, City are in ominous form, going unbeaten through their last 19 Premier League games (15 wins, four draws).
They have already enjoyed four unbeaten runs of 20 or more matches in the competition – three of them under Guardiola – and could become just the second team to achieve the feat five times (Manchester United have done so seven times).
All five of Wolves' away Premier League wins this term have either been against either teams starting the day in the relegation zone (two) or versus London clubs (three).
They have lost 18 of their 20 Premier League away games against sides starting the day inside the top two, winning the others at Tottenham (in December 2018) and City (October 2019). The champions have no margin for error, and a slip-up from them looks unlikely at this stage.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Manchester City – 71.2%
Wolves – 9.6%
Draw – 19.2%
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