Flying in the face of obvious punchlines, City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed has personally purchased the actual FA Cup that was awarded to the winners of football’s oldest competition between 1896 and 1910.

Although City did not disclose the amount paid by Sheikh Mansour, auctioneers Bonhams announced that a particular item of silverware was sold for £760,000 ($1.03m) to an anonymous buyer when it was auctioned on Sept. 29 last year.

On Friday, City confirmed the purchase and their intention of loaning it back to the National Football Museum in Manchester, where it has been housed since 2005.

The cup had been previously the property of West Ham co-owner David Gold, who put it up for sale last year. There were concerns the trophy may be bought privately and taken overseas, but Mansour stepped in to ensure that the iconic piece of silverware will be remaining in situ.

It is the oldest existing version of the trophy because the first FA Cup, first used in 1871, was stolen from a shop while on display in Birmingham following Aston Villa’s triumph in 1895 and has never been seen again.

The cup that Sheikh Mansour has purchased is also the first trophy Manchester City ever won. They became the first professional club from the city to collect a major honour by beating Bolton Wanderers 1-0 in 1904 final. City’s bid to win the competition for the seventh time begins on Sunday when they host Birmingham City in the third round.

According to Bonhams, another of the lots available in the same auction was the vehicle licence plate “LFC1,” which went for £125,000 ($170,000). It is not yet known if that has also been donated to a museum for posterity.

The trophy is now undoubtedly among the most expensive pieces of football memorabilia ever sold.

Many an interested eyebrow was raised in 2010 when Sir Geoff Hurst’s World Cup-winning shirt was put on sale for £2.3m ($3.1m). Hurst wore the red England jersey while scoring his famous hat trick in a 4-2 victory over West Germany in the final at Wembley — a prized piece in any collector’s ensemble. However, the asking price proved a little on the steep side at the time and the jersey, which had fetched £91,750 ($124,773) at auction in 2000, has failed to sell on several subsequent occasions after the reserve price was not met.

West Ham has done their bit to preserve sanctified items of memorabilia on behalf of their former players, with the club purchasing two 1966 World Cup winners’ items in the past to prevent them from slipping into private collections. Sir Bobby Moore’s medal was bought as part of a £1.5m ($2.04m) private sale, and Hurst’s medal was later also bought for an undisclosed sum reported to be around £150,000 ($204,000).

The record for a football shirt sale is Pele’s 1970 World Cup final jersey, which fetched £157,750 ($214,528) at auction in 2002. Pele wore it in the second half of the final against Italy — which makes us wonder how much more the shirt the Brazil legend wore in the first half while scoring his goal might be worth.

In 2016, a special replica of the Jules Rimet trophy fetched £395,000 ($537,001) at an auction of Brazil legend Pele’s personal memorabilia. Pele was given the one-off trophy after Brazil’s 1970 World Cup glory and it was purchased at an auction in London by Swiss watchmakers Hublot.

The three-day auction featured more than 2,000 items of personal memorabilia, has also seen two of Pele’s three World Cup winner’s medals sold. The forward’s medal from his first World Cup victory in 1958 was sold for £200,000 ($271,860), while the other from his 1962 World Cup glory fetched £140,000 ($190,302).

As things stand, the most expensive piece of football memorabilia ever to be sold at the auction is a truly unique piece of the game’s history — the oldest known rulebook in existence. The handwritten “Sheffield Football Club Rules, Regulations & Laws” pamphlet, dating from 1857, was auctioned for £881,250 ($1.98m) in 2011. The rule book includes many of the laws that still exist in football today, with free-kicks, corners and crossbars all introduced.

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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has demanded more protection for players after seeing Kevin De Bruyne narrowly avoid serious injury as his side’s 18-game winning streak came to an end.

De Bruyne was stretchered off after being hacked down by Crystal Palace’s Jason Puncheon as City broke in search of a late winner at Selhurst Park on Sunday following Ederson’s penalty save from Luka Milivojevic.

The Belgium midfielder’s injury is not as bad as first feared but Guardiola said he was unlikely to be ready to face Watford at the Etihad on Tuesday.

There was worse news about City striker Gabriel Jesus, who hobbled off in the first half with a knee problem that will sideline the Brazilian for at least “one month, maybe two months”, Guardiola said.

His main concern, though, was the tackle by Puncheon, the latest in a series of challenges the manager believes could have inflicted serious injury on his players in recent games.

Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus is consoled as he leaves the game after picking up an injury during their English Premier League match against Crystal Palace, at Selhurst Park in London, on December 31, 2017

Guardiola said there was no need to change the physical style of English football but he called for a balance.

“There is a line where you go above and it is dangerous,” he said. “We are lucky with the players in the recent past they are still here. Sometimes because the football is quicker and faster it happens, they don’t want to hurt the other. But they can be out for a long time.”

“We were lucky against Tottenham and against Newcastle. Today we were not lucky,” he added.

– Sanchez signing? –

City are 14 points clear at the top of the Premier League table after dropping points for the first time since the second game of the season.

Wilfried Zaha won Palace’s late penalty after Raheem Sterling was adjudged to have fouled him, capping another outstanding performance by the Ivory Coast international, who has been linked with a January move away from Selhurst Park.

But when asked if he will be staying at the club, Zaha said: “Yep, I am.”

Palace manager Roy Hodgson also has to contend with injuries ahead of his side’s trip to Southampton with centre-back Scott Dann suffering a knee injury, joining fellow defenders Mamadou Sakho and Joel Ward on the sidelines.

“We’ve stretched our resources to the absolute limit,” said Hodgson.

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Their passage to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup was far from straightforward and there were times when Guardiola looked anything but happy with what he was seeing, in particular when it came to some of the highly contentious decisions made by the officials, but the smile on the City manager’s face at the end could not have been wider during those jubilant scenes at the end.

Guardiola explained that his celebrations were down to the fact that he was so overjoyed to see a youthful and much-changed City team – only two players survived from the side that thumped Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 on Saturday – find a way to win a match that was torn from their grasp in the seventh minute of injury time.

Already annoyed that the fourth official had indicated there would be eight minutes of added time, Guardiola’s patience was stretched to breaking point when Bobby Madley, the referee, awarded a penalty after Demarai Gray tumbled to the ground following a challenge from Kyle Walker. Gray was clever in cutting across the defender but it was hard to escape the feeling that the Leicester winger made the most of any contact. Madley, however, pointed to the spot, Jamie Vardy converted and Guardiola’s players were staring at the prospect of playing an additional half an hour.

Walker ended up getting booked for diving later on and Ilkay Gündogan also received a yellow card for simulation. Guardiola was not interested in discussing any of those incidents in detail afterwards, including Leicester’s penalty, with the City manager preferring to praise his players for the character they showed to recover.

Bravo was also singled out for praise after he saved Riyad Mahrez’s penalty in the shootout to give City victory. With Vardy clipping the outside of a post with Leicester’s previous penalty kick, Mahrez had to score but was denied as the Chile international flung himself to his left to beat the ball away. Bravo had also stolen the show in the previous round, when he made two saves in the penalty shootout victory over Wolves, although this was not the night to be getting carried away with his performance.

For much of the game it was hard to avoid the impression that he was a danger to his own team and at the same time easy to see why Ederson, who has taken over as City’s No1, is such an upgrade in goal. Bravo looked like an accident waiting to happen every time the ball was played back to him and on one occasion he was fortunate not to concede a farcical goal after Vardy put him under pressure.

With Phil Foden, Tosin Adarabioyo, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Brahim Díaz all starting for City, there was a youthfulness about Guardiola’s side, yet it was one of the more experienced players that fashioned their breakthrough in the 26th minute.

Gündogan picked the pocket of Kelechi Iheanacho, a former City team-mate, drove at the heart of the Leicester defence and chose the perfect moment to release Bernardo Silva with a clever pass. One on one with Ben Hamer, Silva showed composure as he slipped the ball through the goalkeeper’s legs to put City ahead.

Claude Puel also rang the changes, leaving out seven of the players who started against Crystal Palace on Saturday, and it was not until the Leicester manager called for the cavalry in the second half that his team really started to cause City problems. Vardy, Mahrez and Gray all came off the bench and suddenly Guardiola’s players had a game on their hands.

The second half was stop-start as Ben Chilwell, Hamer and Eliaquim Mangala all required lengthy treatment, contributing to the eight minutes of injury-time that was added at the end of normal time. City still looked like they were going to see the game out but then Walker allowed Gray to get the wrong side of him, the winger fell to the floor and the referee gave a penalty that threw Leicester a lifeline.

Vardy swept the ball past Bravo but he was unable to repeat that feat in the shootout as City stretched their unbeaten domestic run to 27 matches.

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Arteta’s eyebrow was split open during a melee in a narrow corridor outside City’s dressing room and there were unconfirmed reports that another member of Guardiola’s backroom staff needed medical treatment after a confrontation sparked by José Mourinho apparently telling the victorious players to keep their music down.

Mourinho became embroiled in a row with Ederson, City’s Brazilian goalkeeper, who was standing just inside the dressing-room door and the two started shouting insults at one another in Portuguese. Mourinho is said to have accused Ederson of play-acting to waste time and then reverted to English, screaming “you fucking show respect. Who are you?”

Other players became involved and Romelu Lukaku was said to be prominently involved as the confrontation escalated into something much more serious, described by one person on the scene as being reminiscent of a pub fight. Early accounts indicate it was a much more serious incident than the infamous “Battle of the Buffet” in 2004 when Arsenal were the opponents and Sir Alex Ferguson was hit by flying pizza slices.

There were also reports that Mourinho was struck by a plastic bottle, as well as being squirted with milk, although that has not been confirmed and the Guardian has been told he escaped lightly despite being in the middle of it. Once everything had calmed down, Mourinho went into the referee’s room to voice his complaints to Michael Oliver about the incident when Ander Herrera was booked for going down under a challenge from Nicolas Otamendi in the penalty area.

Mourinho then emerged to do his television interviews and there was no sign of him needing to dry off. He did not make any reference to what had happened during all his media work.

Arteta, meanwhile, was being assessed in the City dressing room after being caught in the crossfire. United’s players are understood to feel like the noise from the away dressing room was provocatively loud and, with the door continually being opened, Mourinho appears to have been asking more respect to be shown to the losing team.

As the confrontation escalated, Sergio Aguero and Bernardo Silva were caught on the outside looking in, having not been inside the dressing room when it started. However, other City players were clearly incensed by Mourinho’s behaviour and the fact that several players, most notably Lukaku, had become involved. There are always two police officers in the Old Trafford tunnel after games and eventually they helped to restore peace.

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Manchester United and Manchester City will have to contend with snow and sub-zero temperatures — as well as each other — in Sunday’s Premier League title showdown at Old Trafford.

Snow is forecast to fall across northwest England in the hours leading up to kick-off and temperatures are set to drop to -1 degree Celsius (30 Fahrenheit).

While the Old Trafford pitch benefits from under-soil heating, there are concerns about icy conditions outside the ground and the 76,000 fans due to attend have been encouraged to arrive early.

The white-hot rivalry between the clubs means the temperature is guaranteed to rise once the teams take to the field for the 175th Manchester derby.

League leaders City are gunning for a record-equalling 14th successive top-flight win and can put a huge 11 points between themselves and second-place United if they prevail.

But United are seeking to set a record of their own by notching up a 41st home match without defeat and City manager Pep Guardiola is wary of his old foe Jose Mourinho’s ability to roll with the punches.

“Until now we cannot complain in terms of results and especially the way we have played,” said Guardiola, who was the last away manager to win at Old Trafford in September last year.

“When you see in every game the statistics — not just the way we play — we are better in terms of potential goals, possession and chances conceded.

“But I think United are fantastic on that. When the statistics are good they win and when they are not good they are able to win 3-1 (against Arsenal) at the Emirates, one of the most difficult stadiums.

Manchester United are seeking to set a record by notching up a 41st consecutive home match without defeat and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola (L) is wary of his old foe Jose Mourinho’s (R) ability to roll with the punches

“They conceded 33 shots and they won 3-1. Few teams in the world are able to do that. That’s why you have to be careful. You can control, you can do many things good, but then they have the talent to do that.”

As sublime as City’s football has been since the start of the season, they have had to work much harder for their victories in recent weeks.

– Mourinho lights fuse –

Home-grown midfielder Jesse Lingard, a central figure in Manchester United’s recent run, has plenty of respect for Manchester City, but believes they can be harried out of their stride

United have won their last four games and followed up last weekend’s clinical 3-1 win at Arsenal by beating CSKA Moscow 2-1 on Tuesday to follow City into the Champions League last 16.

Yet recent history favours City, who have won on four of their last six visits to Old Trafford in the league, including an earth-shattering 6-1 victory in October 2011.

Mourinho, typically, has tried to rile Guardiola, questioning his former Barcelona nemesis’s right to wear a yellow ribbon in solidarity with jailed Catalan separatists and accusing City’s players of diving.

“They are a good team. They defend well, they react well to the moment they lose the ball,” said the United manager.

“They have a good dynamic in attack, they have creative movement. They have amazing players, they have a fantastic coach, they have lots of good things.

“If you ask me one thing that I don’t like a lot it’s that they lose their balance very easily. You know, a little bit of wind and they fall.”

City midfielder David Silva has been passed fit after sitting out the trip to Shakhtar with a knock, but Vincent Kompany is a doubt and City are guaranteed to be without John Stones and Benjamin Mendy.

Paul Pogba is United’s major absentee through suspension, which is likely to bring the tigerish Ander Herrera into Mourinho’s midfield.

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