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Ex-footballer Joey Barton has been charged with making malicious communications.

The former Manchester City, Burnley and Rangers player is due to appear in court later this month.

On his X account, the 41-year-old said he had been charged over tweets relating to broadcaster and multiple league title winner Eniola Aluko.

Cheshire Police said the charges concerned messages sent between 1 and 18 January.

In a statement, a force spokesman said a man from Widnes had been "summoned to court to face charges of malicious communications".

They added that following a police investigation, the Crown Prosecution Service had "authorised the charges for Joseph Barton".

The spokesman said the former footballer was due to appear at Warrington Magistrates' Court on 30 July.

Aluko, who won the Women's Super League title with Chelsea three times, topped Serie A with Juventus and scored 33 goals for England in 102 international appearances, retired in 2020 and began a broadcasting career.

The 37-year-old was part of ITV's broadcast team for the recent Euros in Germany and regularly commentates on top level men's and women's matches for several networks in the UK and overseas.

Barton's playing career began in 2002 at Manchester City and ended in 2017 at Burnley.

He also played for Newcastle United, Queens Park Rangers and Marseille and appeared once for England.

The former midfielder, originally from Huyton, Merseyside, went on to manage Fleetwood Town in 2018 before taking over at Bristol Rovers in 2021.

He later left Rovers in 2023 and has not since taken up a managerial position.

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