A former Manchester United youth player will stand trial on suspicion of raping a woman.
The trial of 30-year-old John Cofie begins later today (Monday, January 23), although it is unclear at the time of publishing which court the trial is being held at. The allegations concerning Cofie and another man, Nathan Stuart, date back to 2019.
Those allegations against the two defendants are denied.
Earlier in Cofie's life at the age of just 14, United paid Burnley £1million to bring him to Old Trafford in 2007.
He played in the young United side which won the FA Youth Cup in 2011, but never managed to make his senior debut for the club.
Instead, he was sent on loan to Belgian side Royal Antwerp and Sheffield United after playing in United’s U18s and U21s sides.
After another loan spell at Notts County, Cofie departed United in 2013 and joined Barnsley. However, his time at the club was short lived, as he was snapped up by Molde the following season, but never made a senior appearance for the club.
He was released by the Norwegian side in January 2015 and had to spend two months as a free agent before moving to Crawley Town. After another five month spell as a free agent, Wrexham took a chance on him, only to send him to non-league side Telford United.
Cofie moved across the world to play for Australian side Hume City FC in 2018, but his spell in Australia only lasted six months as he left the club and remained as a free agent for a full year.
He then had a go at kick-starting his football career by joining Fillipino side Global FC. And after initially retiring in the summer of 2020, he U-turned on his decision to sign for non-league side New Mills FC.
