Greater Manchester Police confirm investigation into online hate comments targeting Man United stars

Greater Manchester Police have confirmed it has launched an investigation after three Manchester United players were targeted by vile racist abuse online in the past week.

The club slammed the 'disgusting' racist abuse suffered by defender Axel Tuanzebe and striker Anthony Martial following their shock home defeat by Sheffield United in midweek.

Marcus Rashford then spoke out after Saturday's draw at Arsenal after receiving vile racist abuse on social media, but the star refused to give trolls the 'strong reaction' they were looking for.

Now police have confirmed they are investigating the 'deeply upsetting' events which have targeted members of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's squad.

'We are aware of a number of Manchester United football players suffering abuse on social media accounts between Wednesday 27 January and Saturday 30 January,' a statement read.

'Nobody should be subject to such abuse and it is deeply upsetting not only to those who suffer it, but to all those who come across this awful language too.

'These hateful words have no place anywhere in our society whether online or otherwise.

'A number of these comments have been reported to us and we are liaising with those involved to provide support and we will be investigating these crimes thoroughly.

'Tackling hate crime remains a priority for GMP and we take these reports very seriously.'

Tuanzebe was targeted on his Instagram account through dozens of vile racist comments - including one which read 'DAMNNN N*****' - as well as several abhorrent monkey emojis on an old photo that he had posted a fortnight ago of his United shirt and number.

Some reports also claimed Tuanzebe deleted his Twitter account as a result of the abuse he received following the defeat by the Blades, while Martial was also subjected to abuse after playing the whole game at OId Trafford, leading United to call for social media sites to eradicate abuse posted by 'anonymous mindless idiots'.

A United club statement on Thursday read: 'Everyone at Manchester United is disgusted by the racial abuse received by players via social media after last night's game.

'We utterly condemn it and it is encouraging to see other fans condemn this on social media also.

'Manchester United has zero tolerance of any form of racism or discrimination and a long-standing commitment to campaigning against it through our All Red All Equal initiative.

'Identifying these anonymous mindless idiots remains problematic. We urge social media platforms and regulatory authorities to strengthen measures to prevent this kind of behaviour.'

Rashford was then abused following his side's 0-0 draw with Arsenal on Saturday with users posting monkey emojis while one told him to 'go back to the zoo'.

Chelsea's Reece James and West Brom's Romaine Sawyers also received racist insults on social media, with a 49-year-old man now arrested on suspicion of racially abusing the latter following the Baggies' defeat by Manchester City.

The news from GMP comes after Sportsmail revealed Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter will be handed fines for the abuse of footballers if they fail to protect them under tough new rules drawn up by ministers.

And that means they will have to deal with anonymous abusers so the police can take action, Sportsmail understands, with Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden as well as players and officials left horrified by the abuse suffered by United's players.

The club's Director of Communications, Charlie Brooks, said the United players are 'sick' of the 'hate-filled' abuse online and urged social media platforms to create verifiable and identifiable accounts so the perpetrators can be caught.

United boss Solskjaer has also called on social media platforms to stop the 'nonsense' of racist abuse.

The abuse came just days after Dowden met with current and former footballers, including Jordan Henderson, Tyrone Mings, Anton Ferdinand and Karen Carney, to discuss discrimination.