Brandon Ashton, the Champions’ kit man, took to social media to announce he’s leaving the club after 15 years to explore new opportunities.

He said: “After 15 years at Manchester City I have decided to leave my role at the club to explore other career paths.

“I have had some great experiences, met some amazing people who I know will be friends for life. For me and my family I feel it is the right time to start a new chapter, and see what new challenges I can be set.

“I will always hold Manchester City close to my heart as this club has brought me from a boy to a man. The memories I have over my time at City will forever be cherished.

“I want to thank all the players, management and back room staff I have worked with and also the fans I have had the pleasure to converse with over the years. I wish the lads nothing but the best this season and in the future. Brandon”

Ashton has featured heavily in City’s documentaries in recent years – most prominently in their All or Nothing Amazon Prime series.

“Brandon is kind of the heart and soul of the dressing room really,” City legend Kompany explained in the docu-series. “He has this ability to take pressure off.”

“I would say the players are more close to the kitman and the physio,” Kevin de Bruyne added. “I’m very good with him, since day one. Sometimes, for me, it’s nice to be with someone who’s not a football person.”

would also regularly go viral on social media thanks to his post-match celebrations. He would strip down to his underwear before sliding on his belly across a soaking dressing room floor, much to the delight of the players.

His exit comes on the same day City’s hearing for their 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules is due to start. City were charged and referred to an independent commission in February 2023 following a four-year investigation.

It is alleged City breached financial rules between 2009 and 2018. City strongly deny all charges and have said their case is supported by a “comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence”.

Barcelona forward Dani Olmo has been ruled out for up to five weeks with a hamstring injury, the Catalan club confirmed on Monday.

Olmo, 26, was substituted in the second half of Sunday’s 4-1 win at Girona and tests at the training ground on Monday revealed he is set for at least a month on the sidelines.

He will miss Thursday’s trip to AS Monaco in the Champions League and LaLiga games against Villarreal, Getafe, Osasuna and Alavés, as well as the European match against Young Boys before October’s international break.

Barça will then hope to have him available for a tough run of fixtures after the break, starting with Sevilla on Oct. 20 and followed by games against Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Espanyol.

Olmo, a €55 million ($61.2m) summer signing from RB Leipzig, joins a lengthy injury list that also includes Ronald Araújo, Andreas Christensen, Marc Bernal, Frenkie de Jong and Fermín López.

Ansu Fati and Gavi are also sidelined, but both have returned to training recently and the former could be involved against Monaco this week.

This loss of Olmo comes on the back of an impressive start to life at Barça from the Spain international.

He scored for the third time in as many games in the win at Girona at the weekend, with Lamine Yamal telling ESPN Barça fans will enjoy themselves this season after the LaLiga leaders registered their best goal scoring start to a campaign since 2017.

Yamal, 17, scored twice in the win at Montilivi as Barça took their goal tally to 17 for the season after just five games under new coach Hansi Flick.

The last time Barça had scored so many goals at this stage of the season was in 2017-18, when they also netted 17 while Lionel Messi was still at the club.

Before the Messi era, you have to go back to the 1959-60 campaign to find the last time Barça scored as many goals through their first five league fixtures.

“We want to press so that the opposition feel weighed down,” Yamal told ESPN after Barça’s impressive win at Girona.

“But it’s just the fifth game and the message [from the coach] is that there is still the next one, the next one and the next one to win.

“Playing for Barça means [wanting] to win everything and we want to win every game possible because if you want to win LaLiga, that is what you have to do.

“I am sure the Barça fans will enjoy themselves this season. That’s what we want and will try to achieve, above all by winning games.”

Barça’s goals have been shared around so far, with Robert Lewandowski the league’s top scorer on four followed by Yamal and Olmo, who both have three.

Yamal, meanwhile, has also registered four assists in five games and leads the league in goal contributions with a total of seven, one more than teammate Lewandowski.

Veteran football midfielder, Juan Roman Riquelme has backed Lionel Messi to lead Argentina at the 2026 World Cup after “reinventing himself” at Inter Miami.

The Argentina skipper bagged his first major international trophy in 2021 when he guided his team to the Copa America. The following year, Messi helped La Albiceleste to their third World Cup crown in Qatar as the legendary player completed football, admitting that he had achieved all of his goals in the game.

In the summer of 2024, Messi and Co. Successfully defended their Copa America title in the U.S. and are already being billed as one of the favourites for the 2026 World Cup. While there have been doubts over Messi’s participation in the flagship competition for the sixth time in his career, his former Barcelona and Argentina team-mate Riquelme claimed that he has no doubts that the 37-year-old will grace the global stage again.

Riquelme said on the AZZ channel: “Messi is reinventing himself. You never know what he can do. And I have no doubt that he will play in the next World Cup, he has to play. We will all be rooting for him to play. I don’t tease him too much, but we talk a lot. That’s why I think he’s going to play. He’s very good, it’s something that’s not normal. And to that, he adds that he really likes to compete. He’s won a lot and he still wants to keep winning.”

Messi made a triumphant return to the pitch after a long injury layoff on Saturday, as he scored twice in Inter Miami’s 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Union in Major League Soccer. He will next be seen in action when the Herons take on Atlanta United in another Eastern Conference fixture this week.