Stars pay £4k a month to social firms

FOOTBALLeRs are paying as much as £4,000 a month to outsource their social media activity, Sportsmail can disclose. Manchester City star Phil Foden was left less than impressed on Wednesday night after a member of his social media team posted a tweet that appeared to call out Kylian Mbappe ahead of his side’s Champions League semi-final against Paris saint-Germain. Foden, fresh from scoring the winner against Borussia Dortmund, had not approved the tweet and, although it was subsequently deleted, the 20-year-old is set to ditch Ten Toes Media, the content specialists who were responsible for the tweet. Last month, Joe Hart (right) was forced to apologise after his social media team posted the message ‘Job done’ accompanied by a tick after Tottenham’s humiliating 3-0 second-leg defeat by Dinamo Zagreb in the europa League. Players are forking out between £1,000 and £4,000 a month to such firms to handle their social media activity. The amount players pay varies based on what level of service is required. Industry sources have indicated that some players have no involvement with their own social media accounts at all, despite the fact it can take a matter of seconds to compose a post. The lack of authenticity from some players’ social media activity has come under fire in recent weeks, with the fact a number of footballers use the same firms to handle their accounts blamed for a host of very similar posts. After a string of near identical messages were posted on Twitter by england players during last month’s international break, former Manchester United defender Gary Neville said: ‘Do any of the lads post themselves? They don’t sound authentic. either be on it yourself with your own thoughts or stay off it completely.’ Neville added yesterday: ‘Lads, run your own accounts! Your independent thoughts and authenticity is at stake. It’s your voice, not anyone else’s.’