Man Utd defender Wan-Bissaka to go to trial in December for driving offences

Aaron Wan-Bissaka returned to Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Thursday having entered his guilty pleas for driving while disqualified, without a license and without insurance earlier this month

Manchester United star Aaron Wan-Bissaka will go on trial on motoring matters in December.

The 23-year-old last month pleaded guilty to driving whilst disqualified, without a licence and without insurance after being stopped by police on June 23 in Manchester.

The footballer is currently still allowed to drive as his ban was “set aside” until the trial later this year.

His lawyer told Manchester Magistrates’ Court the player did not know he was banned when he was stopped.

Just days before, on June 18, Leeds Magistrates’ Court had disqualified him for six months after he failed to provide the details of the driver from a speeding offence in Yorkshire in September of 2020.

His lawyers say the letters went to his old address in Croydon, south London.

Wan-Bissaka signed for Manchester United from Crystal Palace in a £45 million deal in July 2019.

Shaun Draycott, defending, told the court in Manchester: “When Mr Wan-Bissaka drove on June 23 he did so in complete ignorance of the fact of disqualification.”

Wan-Bissaka was excused attendance in court for Thursday’s hearing.

District Judge Bernard Begley set a trial date of December 20 at Manchester Magistrates’ Court when Wan-Bissaka will give evidence in person to explain why he failed to provide the driver’s details for the speeding offence in Yorkshire.

He will then be sentenced for the driving while disqualified offence in Manchester.

Wan-Bissaka – who joined United for £50million from Crystal Palace in 2019 – was in the spotlight for the wrong reasons earlier this week.

The right-back was sent off for a reckless tackle in the first half of the Red Devils’ first Champions League fixture of the season against Swiss club Young Boys on Tuesday.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side were leading 1-0 through Cristiano Ronaldo at the time of Wan-Bissaka’s dismissal, but ended up losing the Group F fixture 2-1.

Wan-Bissaka is regarded as one of the best right-backs in the Premier League and Old Trafford legend Paul Scholes was bitterly disappointed with his lapse in discipline.

“He causes himself his own problem with a really clumsy touch. I don’t think he meant to do it but he had to go,” Scholes told BT Sport .

Giving his verdict on the red card after the match, United manager Solskjaer told reporters: “I can understand why he (the referee) gives it.

“Aaron takes a touch that goes too far, it’s never a dangerous tackle because he hits him in the front of his foot.

“We saw with [ Liverpool midfielder] Harvey Elliott you sometimes can see bad injuries [but] it was never reckless or malicious.

“Maybe inexperience to go through without the ball but the boy wasn’t going to be injured. And it makes it difficult after that with 10 men.

“Aaron’s normally a very, very astute tackler, one of the best in the world.”