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Manchester United’s dressing room during last weekend’s clash against Unai Emery’s men at Villa Park was reportedly bugged, with Erik ten Hag’s team talks recorded.
United played out a 0-0 draw vs. Villa, extending their winless run to five matches.
According to The Sun, the United changing room was bugged before the meeting, in what is being described as a “shocking security breach.”
The newspaper reveals that a prankster claims he “hoodwinked” Villa Park staff to sneak in and plant the bug two days before the clash. The Sun insist that they’ve heard what Ten Hag told his players but have ultimately chosen not to make these details public.
A source said about the matter, “This is a shocking breach of security and some serious questions will be asked as to how this was allowed to happen. Fortunately, there was nothing sinister to this incident.”
“It was just a prankster, who’s actually a United fan, being silly and wanting to hear what was said inside those four walls. But it will definitely be a cause for concern about how they managed to get inside a changing room at one of the Premier League’s biggest clubs just days before a match.”
It’s understood that the prankster used a Chinese phone with a feature that allows the microphone to be activated through a call from another device.
The phone, which was well-hidden to remain out of sight, was only rang by the prankster when he was sure Ten Hag was in the dressing room addressing his stars.
A source told The Sun, “These people [pranksters] are mostly harmless and doing it for a bit of fun.”
“They are doing it to get a load of hits on YouTube and make their fans laugh. They aren’t trying to cause trouble or do harm to anyone.”
This is not the first time United have been hit by pranksters.
Back in May, YouTube prankster Lizwani somehow evaded security and found his way onto the United team bus. The incident took place in the aftermath of the Red Devils’ 4-0 hammering by Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Lizwani got past security and walked onto the waiting coach while dressed in a full club tracksuit. It was not until he was on the bus that he was stopped by security guards and escorted away.
United return to action on Saturday, October 19 when they host Thomas Frank’s Brentford at Old Trafford.
Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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