The 17-year-old Dutch winger is starring at youth level for the Etihad Stadium outfit but has yet to break into Pep Guardiola’s first team

The biggest clubs in Germany are scouring the academies of England looking for the next Jadon Sancho and, by returning to the place where the Borussia Dortmund winger was discovered, they may just find him.

Manchester City forward Jayden Braaf has emerged as the dazzling talent of the club’s latest youth team, and the similarities with Sancho, who left the club two-and-a-half years ago, are startling.

Both have exceptional close skill, particularly when on the move and at pace, which allows them to drift past players with ease.

Both are matchwinners, possessing the ability to cut open defences with long slaloming runs, cutting in from either side to shoot as well as having the composure to pick out a team-mate.

And both have a supreme confidence in their own ability and no fear of the big stage.

It is why Bundesliga scouts are regulars at the Etihad Academy to watch Braaf. A path from England’s youth academies to Germany is becoming a familiar route, inspired the gamble taken by Sancho, who swapped the Premier League champions for what he thought could be a better chance at Dortmund.

RB Leipzig have watched the Netherlands Under-18 international in his last two FA Youth Cup appearances while other German clubs have shown an interest in him, including Dortmund themselves as they potentially prepare for life after Sancho, with it likely he will make a £100 million move back to the Premier League this summer.

After letting Sancho leave for just £8m, it would seem careless of City to allow Braaf to follow him out of the club, particularly given the Amsterdam-born winger has three-and-a-half years remaining on his contract. But the 17-year-old is keen to jump-start his first-team career and is not prepared to kick around in youth teams waiting for his opportunity.

“I hope to be able to play somewhere in a first team next season. At Manchester City or somewhere else, we will see,” he told Voetbalzone in October. “A lot of people are talking to me, I have to keep going and this is an important season.”

Despite his undoubted quality, Braaf has yet to play a minute for City’s first-team and has not broken into matchday squad despite regular training sessions under Pep Guardiola. Academy sources believe it will not happen this season, with question marks over the player’s attitude.

Braaf believes he is ready for the first team but Guardiola demands his players give 100 per cent in training as well as matches, and there is a concern that he has not taken the opportunity to impress the City boss, relying too heavily on his talent and not matching the workrate of more senior professionals.

Braaf does not turn 18 until the end of August and has plenty of time on his side, but he has always impatient to push his career forward.

Aged five, he began his footballing education at ASV Fortius, and within a month was moves up to play with those in the seven year olds bracket. Shortly after he was awarded a place at Ajax’s ‘talentendagen’ but did not enjoy it.

“You’re young and you want to have fun, but I had no fun at Ajax. It was really serious business from a very young age,” he told Voetbal International.

Turning down professional outfits FC Volendam and FC Utrecht to join amateur club AFC Amsterdam, he shone against big clubs such as Ajax and PSV, the latter of whom eventually picked him up.

From there he attracted the interest of several leading European clubs including City, Chelsea and Bayern Munich, leading to a fall-out in Eindhoven.

“They didn’t treat me well,” Braaf told NOS of his time with PSV. “I was talking to other clubs, so they expected that I wanted to leave.

“From that moment, I was on the bench and they refused to let me leave to a youth tournament with the Dutch national team. That’s why I was done with PSV.”

City won the race and he has continued to shine, impressing in the Netherlands’ run to the semi-final of the U-17 World Cup in Brazil last year as well as in FA Youth Cup and UEFA Youth League matches.

A place in the club’s summer’s pre-season tour next summer is a possibility, but given his eagerness to make another step-up and with German clubs lying in wait, Braaf seems destined to take another step towards becoming the ‘new Jadon Sancho’.

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The Norwegian has confirmed he will shuffle his pack in the Europa League following a hard-fought victory over Chelsea at the start of the week

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed he will field a much-changed team when Manchester United take on Club Brugge, and explained why Mason Greenwood will sit out the Europa League clash.

The Red Devils will arrive at Jan Breydel Stadium in Belgium for a round of 32 first-leg tie on Thursday night, just three days after beating Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Solskjaer named a full-strength squad for the trip to west London, which marked United’s first game back following the Premier League’s winter break.

United are also due to welcome Watford to Old Trafford on Sunday, with Solskjaer wary of tiredness creeping in after three fixtures in the space of six days.

The return fixture against Brugge is scheduled for four days later, with a clash against Everton and an FA Cup fifth-round tie against Derby set to follow before they play host to Manchester City on March 8.

The Norwegian head coach insists his players are fully focused on their latest Europa League outing, but has admitted that he will make a number of changes in order to “make sure everyone feels valued” during a hectic period.

“Yeah, the focus is this game. We need to look after this one. Then again we have to think about from Monday until City,” Solskjaer told MUTV .

“That’s seven games in 21 days, a game every three days. We need to make sure we find the right moments to put players in and out, and rotate the squad.

“Everyone’s very important for us and we need to make sure everyone feels valued as well. Because they’re contributing for us behind the scenes in training. We’ll make some changes for this game.”

Greenwood did not travel to Brugge with the rest of his team-mates, despite the fact the 18-year-old striker has scored four goals in five Europa League outings this season.

Solskjaer has now revealed that the teenager is struggling with illness, while confirming that Victor Lindelof is back in the fold and delivering an update on Scott McTominay’s fitness.

“Victor has travelled with us. Scotty hasn’t made the squad yet,” said Solskjaer. “Mason hasn’t travelled, he didn’t feel well. Apart from that, it’s more or less the same squad as Monday.” 

The Red Devils qualified for the Europa League knockout stages after finishing top of Group L, four points clear of second-placed AZ after winning four of their six fixtures.

When asked if he feels the competition will now start taking on greater significance for United, Solskjaer responded: “Of course, if you’re out, you’re out and there are no second chances. But we’re looking forward to this. We know it’s a tough draw.

“Normally when you win your group as comfortably as we did, you think you’re going to have a nice draw and then you end up with a Champions League team dropping down from there. So it’s a hard draw but we’re looking forward to it.”

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The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has taken action against those said to have manipulated the awarding of media rights in major events

Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has been charged with criminal offences in Switzerland over his alleged role in the manipulation of World Cup broadcasting rights by FIFA’s former general secretary Jerome Valcke.

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has taken action against those caught up in the scandal.

Valcke stands accused of having accepted bribes when it comes to the distribution of media rights for World Cup and Confederations Cup events.

Al-Khelaifi, who is also head of the beIN Media Group, and a third party are alleged to have incited Valcke to commit “aggravated criminal mismanagement”.

A statement released by the OAG read: “The investigations revealed that Valcke had received undue advantages from both co-accused. Valcke was refunded the down payment of around EUR 500,000 that he had made to a third party on the purchase of a villa in Sardinia, after Al-Khelaifi had purchased the villa through a company instead of Valcke. Valcke then received from Al-Khelaifi the exclusive right to use the villa for a period of 18 months – until he was suspended by FIFA – without having to pay an estimated rent in between about EUR 900,000 and about EUR 1.8m. From the third accused Valcke received three payments totalling about EUR 1.25m to his company Sportunited LLC.

“The charge of criminal mismanagement relates to the fact that Valcke had not reported the mentioned advantages that he received to FIFA, as he was required to do as its Secretary General, thus unlawfully enriching himself. In this context, Al-Khelaifi and the third accused are charged with corresponding incitement.

“In relation to the falsification of documents, Valcke is charged with causing the issuance of untruthful balance sheets for Sportunited LLC in 2013 and 2014, in that he had the three payments from the third accused entered as loans. 

“The charges of paying and accepting bribes are based on the allegation that between 2013 and 2015 Valcke exploited his position as Secretary General of FIFA to influence the award of media rights for Italy and Greece for various World Cup and FIFA Confederations Cup tournaments in the period between 2018 and 2030 in order to favour media partners that he preferred. In return, the third accused promised and indeed made the aforementioned three payments to Valcke totalling EUR 1.25m.

“On the other hand, the suspicion that Valcke accepted a luxury watch that Al-Khelaifi offered him in return for exerting his influence as Secretary General of FIFA was not found to be substantiated. As a result, an abandonment of proceedings order in relation to this matter was issued in February 2020.”

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The Brazilian admits that he is similar to star turns on the books at Real Madrid and Barcelona, with his game now fully adjusted to life in England

Liverpool midfielder Fabinho admits his game is similar to that of Clasico foes Casemiro and Sergio Busquets, while he has also been quick to hail the relentless drive of Reds team-mates Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino.

A Brazil international on the books at Anfield has established a reputation as one of the finest holding midfielders in world football.

Fabinho overcame a slow start to his time in English football to nail down an important role in Jurgen Klopp’s plans.

He now stands alongside some of the very best in his business when it comes to the art of shielding a defensive unit, with there little to choose between his value at Liverpool and that of proven performers on the books at Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester City.

“I like to organise and try to make good passes, because I have good vision when I receive the ball in the opposition half of the field,” Fabinho told El Pais.

“If I have space, I also want to be offensively important, but my first task must be defensive. Casemiro, Rodri, Busquets, we have a similar role. 

“At Liverpool, I must pay attention to the sides, to close space in behind down the sides, and also help out in the middle.”

Fabinho has conceded on a regular basis that he initially struggled to show his true worth with Liverpool, having been eased into the Reds fold by Klopp on the back of a big-money move from Monaco.

He added: “Normally when a Brazilian arrives in Europe he discovers that the time to think is reduced, that there is less space. 

“But when you arrive in England there is even less time to react. That and the physical requirement took me a while to get used to. It took longer than normal to recover from the matches.”

The 26-year-old is now fully up to speed and has played a leading role in the collection of Champions League, UEFA Super and Club World Cup crowns.

Liverpool are also fast closing in on the Premier League title, with it possible that they could complete an entire English top-flight campaign unbeaten.

Contributions are being made to that cause across a star-studded squad, with Fabinho picking out a few of the leading lights.

He said: “[Jordan] Henderson and [James] Milner know how to transmit motivation. The team is receptive because it’s very professional.

“But for the team, it’s incredible that the three stars, Mane, Salah and Firmino, are inexhaustible. They are an hour early in the gym every day. They always want more!”

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MONTREAL — Via Rail says it is temporarily laying off 1,000 employees due to blockades that continue to halt trains on CN tracks in Eastern Canada.

The Crown corporation has suspended passenger service on its Montreal-Toronto and Ottawa-Toronto routes for nearly two weeks due to the protests that have disrupted rail operations across the country.

The layoffs come amid growing pressure on the federal government to take action against rail blockades in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs who oppose a natural gas pipeline that is scheduled to pass through their traditional lands in British Columbia.

“It is with sincere regret that we must proceed with temporary employee suspensions,” Via said in a release Thursday.

“Until CN Rail opens the remaining tracks for service, VIA Rail has no choice but to continue the cancellation of its services on a large part of its network.”

Via will resume full service in southwestern Ontario and partial service along its Quebec City-Montreal-Ottawa route Thursday morning after announcing a near-full network shutdown last Thursday.

Chief executive Cynthia Garneau called the ongoing interruption due to a 13-day blockade east of Belleville, Ont., “unprecedented.”

“In 42 years of existence, it is the first time that VIA Rail, a public intercity passenger rail service, has to interrupt most of its services across the country,” she said in a statement.

Via said it “commends the ongoing dialogue efforts” between the governments and First Nations leaders.

The company has cancelled more than 530 trains since blockades began on Feb. 6.

Earlier this week, Canadian National Railway Co. temporarily laid off about 450 workers from its operations in Eastern Canada after cancelling more than 400 trains since protests arose.

The Belleville-area blockade on a line bisecting Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory has forced CN to shut down one-quarter of its network — all in Eastern Canada — clogging its system from coast to coast.

“It really is all across the country,” Dan Kelly, CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) said in a phone interview. “The whole system starts to break down, and that has effects on a lot of smaller and medium-sized companies.

“I know one small manufacturer of flags and banners in Quebec that is waiting on a shipment of goods from Taiwan, has 12 employees and is set to lose a $100,000 contract because she’s not available to fulfil it while she waits for the raw materials to come in since they’re stuck on the rails right now,” he said.

The looming threat to jobs and goods prompted Kelly to send an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warning of dire consequences and reputational damage if the crisis continues.

Agriculture and natural resources are the sectors most affected, but retailers and wholesalers are increasingly feeling the pinch — and have fewer financial resources to weather extended disruptions — according to the CFIB, which represents 110,000 small and medium businesses.

Backed-up rail operations and pop-up blockades hampering access to ports in Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., and Halifax have led to bottle necks, with some ships turned away and cargo rerouted to docks in the U.S. or on to less efficient truck transport, according to the Association of Canadian Port Authorities.

Kelly is calling on Ottawa to work with the provinces and law enforcement to get trains back on the tracks.

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British Columbia has approved the $6-billion, 670-kilometre Coastal GasLink pipeline between Dawson Creek and Kitimat B.C., with 20 First Nations band councils signing on to the project, including five of the six band councils in the Wet’suwet’en nation.

However, Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs say band councils are only responsible for the land within their respective reserves because their authority stems from the Indian Act.

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RBC economist Nathan Janzen says the blockades have “clouded” the economic outlook for Canadian manufacturing. The crisis is stranding an estimated $425 million in goods every day, according to the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters trade group.

The Via layoffs and the call from the CFIB come amid mounting criticism of the Liberal government from Conservative MPs and provincial premiers, with some demanding Trudeau denounce the blockades and articulate a plan to end the them.

CIBC World Markets analyst Kevin Chiang inferred from the impact of the CN rail strike last November that the company would take a hit of three cents per share every week that the blockades continue, assuming the rail network is operating at 70 per cent to 75 per cent capacity.

That would mean a roughly $43-million dent to earnings so far, or five per cent of its net income in the first quarter of 2019.

“The impact is actually not as acute for CN as people think. That’s a function of the fact that the network is so vast and so wide, and there’s a whole part of the network that goes to the Gulf Coast of the U.S. that’s not being affected,” DBRS analyst Amaury Baudouin said in a phone interview.

“We still remain cautiously optimistic,” chief financial officer Ghislain Houle said at a conference in Miami on Wednesday.

As to whether CN will revise its earnings forecast for 2020, he said: “Stay tuned.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2020.

OTTAWA — Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has offered effusive thanks to New Democrats and stinging criticism of the Conservatives after the NDP supported the minority Liberal government’s efforts to more speedily ratify the new North American trade agreement.

Freeland said the government wanted to limit study of the new deal, which replaces the quarter-century-old North American Free Trade Agreement, and get on with a vote to put it into effect.

Freeland said she was surprised that Conservatives wanted to extend committees’ study of the agreement into March and was grateful to New Democrat MPs for supporting the government.

Watch: Freeland thanks NDP, blasts Tories

 

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But the Conservative trade critic Randy Hoback said there is no circumstance under which his party would vote against ratifying the trade deal. He said the Tories simply wanted to hear from witnesses to give voice to people who are concerned about the deal, to make it stronger in the long term. 

“We’re just asking basic questions that Canadians are asking us. There’s no silly buggery going on in the background. These are just fair questions that need to be answered before moving forward,” he said in an interview.

“We needed to hear from those witnesses that were negatively impacted by this deal and we needed to have an idea from the Liberal party in how they are going to mitigate those consequences,” Hoback added.

The partisan acrimony on the trade file came on a day when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pointedly excluded Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer from a meeting of party leaders talking about blockades raised by Indigenous people and supporters over a pipeline project in B.C.

The blockades and the unresolved trade deal have economic consequences. 

Both the United States and Mexico have formally ratified the new continental trade pact, which was reached after the Trump administration in Washington foisted a renegotiation on its two continental allies in 2017.

President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to rip up NAFTA during the 13 months of acrimonious negotiations among the three countries.

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• Icy Relations With Feds Starting To Thaw, Prairie Premiers Suggest

Getting a new deal became the Liberal government’s top priority because of Canada’s massive economic dependence on access to the United States, its biggest trading partner.

Freeland has had cabinet responsibility for Canada-U.S. relations during that time as foreign affairs minister and now as deputy prime minister.

Freeland said Tuesday the Commons trade committee will end its hearings on Feb. 28, allowing the ratification to move forward. The Liberals needed the support of at least one other party to get their way, because they don’t command a majority in the House of Commons.

“The Conservatives had sought to extend debate at committee on the new NAFTA beyond March 12. We think that that is too long, and would have created unnecessary needless and dangerous uncertainty in the Canadian economy,” Freeland said.

“It will be a surprise to many Canadians who voted for Conservatives in October to learn that their Conservative MPs are less supportive of free trade, less supportive of economic certainty in Canada’s relationship with the United States than the NDP is,” she added.

“I leave it to the Conservatives to explain why they believe that partisan bickering is more important than a principled support of the national interest.”

Tories deny they are playing politics

But Hoback said his party was not playing partisan politics by wanting further study, and that it will vote to support the deal.

“That’s what created the problem in the previous NAFTA is when people were left out. They were the ones that elected Trump this last election, because they were left out.”

New Democrat MP Daniel Blaikie said his party would support the new deal provided the government provides more transparency in future trade negotiations.

“We know that we can’t change the deal,” Blaikie told reporters.

“That’s why we focused on what we could change, which is how we get better deals in the future and we were glad to see openness on the part of the government to that.”

The Progressive Conservatives under Brian Mulroney ushered in the 1988 Free Trade Agreement with the United States and won a federal election over the Liberals to be able to do that. The Progressive Conservatives began expanded negotiations to include Mexico in the early 1990s before NAFTA was born in 1994 after the Liberals won power.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2020.

Actress and activist Rosanna Arquette made the grisly claim on Monday that the young migrants being held at border patrol facilities (what she called “concentration camps”) are being abused “every minute.”

“Every minute ,The United States of America is abusing children at the border .they are detained in cruel and unsafe conditions,” Rosanna Arquette said. “these concentration camps are set up to dehumanize them.This is immoral and barbaric. This is what the The trump administration stands for.”

Arquette — who in March said President Donald Trump is perpetuating a “sick dictatorship” and running “a government that has normalized racism rape, mass killings from Guns Pedophilia, homophobia” — sent the aforementioned tweet after posting news stories about the grim living conditions at the border patrol holding facilities in Clint and McAllen, Texas.

Earlier on Monday Arquette said “Children are sick and dying inside the cruel concentration camps in the united states of America this will be the trump administrations legacy.”

“Any Jewish person who can turn their backs on this evil and does nothing to stop it ,should be ashamed of themselves,” the Pulp Fiction actress said, later tweeting: “#EndTrumpsConcentrationCamps.”

Some Border Patrol facilities are currently more than double their capacity, as nearly 90,000 migrants families from Honduras and Guatemala — and 33,000 unaccompanied minors from those countries — have been apprehended in the first six months of this year. While the vast majority of the minors apprehended receive medical care, are fed, cleaned, and clothed, and are assigned a case worker, these overcrowded and often understaffed holding facilities are causing serious health concerns.

Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson

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A-list Hollywood actor Dwayne Johnson used his acceptance speech at the 2019 MTV Movie & TV Awards to explain why he refused to conform to Hollywood after he left his career as a pro wrestler to become a movie star.

Accepting the Generation Award honor for positive contributions to film and television, Johnson told the story of how he refused to conform to the expectations of Hollywood and the film industry.

“When I first got to Hollywood — Hollywood, they didn’t know what the hell to do with me. I mean, I was this half-black, half-Samoan and six foot four, 275-pound pro wrestler,” said Johnson. “You know; I was told at that time, well, you got to be a certain way. You got to drop some weight. You’ve got to be somebody different. You got to stop working out. Stop doing the things that I love. You got to stop calling yourself ‘The Rock.’ What?!”

Dwayne Johnson went on to explain how conforming to Hollywood’s expectations left him miserable.

“For years I actually bought into it because you think, ‘Oh, that’s what that’s what I’m supposed to do.’ And I was miserable doing that,” he continued. “So I made a choice. And the choice was I wasn’t going to conform to Hollywood, Hollywood was going to conform to me. So, Hollywood conformed to me and here I am with all of you getting the Generation Award. Holy shit.”

There can be little doubt about the success of Johnson’s methods, with the 47-year-old boasting dozens of starring roles in major blockbusters such as Jumanji and the Fast and Furious franchise.

Past recipients of the MTV Generation Award include Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pratt, Will Smith Robert Downey Jr., Sandra Bullock, Jamie Foxx, Johnny Depp, Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Tom Cruise, and Jim Carrey.

Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at [email protected]

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Donald Tusk predicts Brexit deal during 2018

Council president says deal will seek to ensure ‘losses on both sides will be limited.’

KRAKOW, Poland — The EU and the U.K. will likely reach a Brexit deal before the end of the year, European Council President Donald Tusk said Saturday.

Speaking to reporters in Kraków, Tusk said: “I have a hope, which is close to certainty, that at the end we’ll manage to achieve an exit deal and a declaration about future relations which will be the best possible.”

With a Brexit summit scheduled for October 17-18, Tusk said he expected the two sides to move toward “if not finalize” an agreement this month. “If need be I’ll call in November a Council session devoted just to this topic and I think that before the end of the year there is a chance to reach such an agreement,” he said.

The Council president also said the Brexit deal would seek to ensure “losses on both sides will be limited.”

Addressing criticism he has sought to punish the U.K. through Brexit talks, Tusk said: “I’m probably one of the most pro-British politicians in the EU and we will do everything for it to be made in an organized way in order to avoid chaos.”

He conceded however there is little chance Brexit could be abandoned. “For many months after the referendum in Great Britain I believed that it was possible to reverse this decision. Of course, it is not my role, it is in hands of the British people but it seems that the decision is irreversible now,” Tusk said.

With Irishman Phil Hogan being nominated as next trade commissioner, the stage has been set for yet another potential Brexit drama.

Known for his tough negotiating tactics and not mincing his words, Hogan has repeatedly warned of the negative consequences of a no-deal Brexit and lashed out against the British government’s handling of the negotiations, Prime Minister Boris Johnson in particular.

In his previous position as agriculture commissioner in Jean-Claude Juncker’s Cabinet, Hogan even had Juncker’s blessing to travel across the U.K. before the EU referendum to campaign against Brexit.

The stakes are higher now that Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen has proposed the 1.95-meter tall Irishman as the bloc’s next trade chief — a position that will see him front and center of negotiations on a post-Brexit trade deal with the U.K. (Announcing her nomination today, von der Leyen dubbed him a “hard and fair negotiator,” a reputation he has earned in trade talks with Japan and the Mercosur countries.)

During a speech at the end of August, Hogan gave a taste of what’s to come. Slamming Johnson as an “unelected prime minister,” he also said Brussels will “not buckle” under any pressure the U.K. government is trying to assert on its red lines.

Leaving the EU without a deal will create a “foul atmosphere” and have “serious consequences” on the prospects of a trade deal between London and Brussels, Hogan said bluntly.

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European commissioners are meant to stay out of national affairs and focus on representing the EU’s interests as a whole. But Hogan has repeatedly flouted or ignored this rule.

Ireland’s particularly delicate position when it comes to Brexit will be served well by his continued interest and interference in national affairs. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, while congratulating Hogan on his new position today, said that although the new trade commissioner will work for the bloc as a whole, “it is a definite advantage to have an Irish person in charge of this crucial brief over the next five years.”

Varadkar had previously stated that the threat Brexit poses to Ireland was an important factor influencing his nod for Hogan.

One thing is certain: Britain should brace itself for Hogan’s hardball tactics in any future trade talks.

This article is part of POLITICO’s premium Brexit service for professionals: Brexit Pro. To test our expert policy coverage of the implications and next steps per industry, email [email protected] for a complimentary trial.