Sheffield United are investigating after a video was widely circulated on social media purporting to show striker Oli McBurnie in an altercation with a man in the street.
The footage, which has been viewed almost a million times, shows a short confrontation and shouting during which a mobile phone appears to be knocked out of someone’s hand before it is stamped on.
The relegated Premier League club said in a statement: “Officials at Sheffield United are aware of the video circulating on social media and are currently investigating.”
FEATURE: An XI of the best PL runners-up who never won the title
North Yorkshire Police said the incident, reported to have been filmed in Knaresborough, had not been reported to its officers.
A spokeswoman said: “We would encourage anyone involved in this incident to report it to the police so the circumstances surrounding the incident can be established and support offered to the victim.”
Scotland international McBurnie was last year fined £28,500 for drink-driving after a police officer spotted him reaching an “idiotic” speed in his high-powered Audi.
The 24-year-old appeared at Leeds Magistrates’ Court where he admitted the charge and was banned from the roads for 12 months.
Police stopped the £17.5million player in his black Audi R8 near his home in Garforth, Leeds, in the early hours of October 2019.
McBurnie came through the ranks at Bradford before joining Swansea in July 2015. After a series of loan spells he made his way into the Swansea starting eleven in 2017/18, scoring nine goals in 17 league games.
The Scotsman became a Championship star the following year by registering 22 goals in 44 matches. That earned him his big move to Sheffield United in August 2019.
In his first season at Bramall Lane he was on target six times in 36 appearances and helped the Blades to reach an impressive ninth-placed finish.
But the forward has enjoyed far less success in the current season. His tally of one Premier League goal in 23 outings, and none since the turn of the year, pretty much sums up their season as a whole.
The Blades will be aiming for an immediate return to the top flight, in the mould of Norwich, next season.