Manchester City star Phil Foden was said to be angered after the company which manages his Twitter account posted a challenge to Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe before the players meet in the Champions League semi-final.
Foden starred as City booked their spot in the last four with a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund in Germany on Wednesday night, scoring the winner with a drilled shot from the edge of the box in the 75th minute.
Soon after the final whistle, the Twitter account for the 20-year-old England star fired off a message to Mbappe reading: “@KMbappe are you ready?”
The friendly call-out soon began circulating on social media, although Foden and his representatives were said to be unhappy at the company which handles his Twitter account. Some claimed that the message could be seen as Foden "taunting" Mbappe ahead of the clash.
“Foden didn't post that Mbappe tweet himself, it was done by the company that manage his account. People close to Foden not particularly happy about it and it's been deleted,” wrote Man City reporter Sam Lee.
The message was removed from Foden’s account, while some such as former Manchester United and England star Gary Neville questioned why players don’t just manage their own social media activity.
“I mentioned on here a few weeks ago about players having their accounts run by social media companies. Lads run your own accounts!” Neville tweeted.
“Your independent thought and authenticity is at stake. It’s your voice, not anyone else’s.”
Some fans welcomed Foden’s account laying down the gauntlet to Mbappe.
“Phil Foden tweeting Mbappe like that is exactly that this sport needs… too many sauceless athletes in football, so it’s so refreshing to see,” wrote one fan.
Mbappe PSG had booked their Champions League semi-final spot on Tuesday night despite suffering a 1-0 home defeat to Bayern Munich. The Paris giants progress on away goals after the tie ended 3-3 on aggregate.
In the other semi-final, Chelsea will meet Real Madrid after the Spaniards held off Liverpool in their second leg at Anfield on Wednesday night. The score on Merseyside ended goalless, earning Real a 3-1 aggregate win.
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