Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville has urged more top footballers to take back ownership of their social media platforms after a post from Phil Foden’s Twitter account about Kylian Mbappe was quickly removed on Wednesday night.
The tweet, posted after Manchester City secured a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League to set up a semi-final meeting with Paris Saint-Germain, tagged Mbappe, alongside the message: “Are you ready”.
It has been reported that the tweet was published by a third-party PR company and that Foden was unhappy with the post for unnecessarily mentioning the PSG forward.
“I mentioned on here a few weeks ago about players having their accounts run by social media companies,” Neville tweeted on Thursday morning.
“Lads, run your own accounts! Your independent thought and authenticity is at stake . It’s your voice , not anyone else’s.”
Neville had previously questioned the authenticity of players’ posts after a number of England internationals tweeted similar post-match messages after last month’s World Cup qualifiers.
Foden scored decisive goals in both legs of City’s quarter-final win, including the winner in Dortmund on Wednesday.
“He scored two important goals to help us be in the semi-finals,” his manager, Pep Guardiola, said afterwards. “He is learning to make decisions.
“He always creates something. He is dynamic offensively, defensively and in the small spaces.
“You have the feeling he is a guy who never hides.”
