Manchester City defender Jason Denayer, who spent this season on loan at Sunderland, said he was reacting instinctively when he kicked a man in the head during a brawl in Belgium.
The 21-year-old's agent said Denayer "was in the wrong place at the wrong time".
Denayer commented, via the BBC:
Of course I regret to have been caught up in a conflict that was not mine to begin with, but I saw my friend was in real danger and I had to interfere and protect him.