Portuguese hacker and whistleblower Rui Pinto is now back at the centre of the Manchester City legal case following the Premier League and independent commission's guilty verdict.

Having spent years under the protection of a witness programme in his home country, Pinto recently announced that he has been cut adrift by Portuguese authorities and launched a fundraiser asking for €3 million from the wider public. 

Now, fresh reports suggest that Rui Pinto - whose physical safety is reportedly at risk - is open to cooperating with officials in the United Kingdom if they are able to offer him protection. 

In a new report from The Guardian, it is claimed that Rui Pinto is prepared to help British authorities with any investigation against Manchester City in return for assurances over his safety.

Despite launching the aforementioned crowdfunding campaign to bankroll a fresh start away from the protection of Portuguese police, cooperation reportedly remains on the table so long as adequate security is in place.

There is also the question of what information Rui Pinto may still have that has not yet been disclosed, with the report suggesting that he holds a detailed grasp of the individuals and companies at the heart of the case - and is potentially in possession of documents that were overlooked the first time around.

With senior politicians - up to and including British Prime Minister Andy Burnham - being dragged into the media storm surrounding the case, it would be naive to rule out the possibility that the government may widen their inquiry beyond sporting sanctions.

It should be stressed that Rui Pinto’s reputation and whistleblowing track record does not begin and end with his involvement in the Football Leaks website.

Nonetheless, he is in a precarious position, and his legal team have strongly protested the move to strip him of protected-witness status, accusing the Portuguese of “state terrorism” and lodging an appeal.

Should the loss of that status be upheld, Rui Pinto would be free to work with overseas authorities from October 10, and has already cooperated sporadically with investigators in France, Germany and Belgium, and the UK may now join that list.

For now, the 37-year-old is left waiting to learn his fate, with the crowdfunding effort having already passed €27,000.

What makes Rui Pinto such a significant - and divisive - figure is the sheer scale of what he has assembled in a catalogue of evidence said to total hundreds of millions of documents, amassed through both Football Leaks and the Luanda Leaks.

Those files do not sit with Portugal alone, and while Rui Pinto was detained in Budapest, French investigators travelled to Hungary and made copies of every device he was carrying.

That material can now be passed between allied nations - including the UK - through international cooperation. Pinto was also acquitted of 241 charges at a second Portuguese trial in April, a verdict that was celebrated by his supporters. 

Manchester City, found guilty of serious breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules and already in the early stages of an appeal, are well aware that they may have more than a sporting verdict to reckon with.

Now it is looking increasingly likely that the full extent of the battle could depend on whether the UK takes Rui Pinto up on his offer.