Police confirm investigation into ‘inhumane’ abuse sent to Sheffield United player

It comes after Blades boss Chris Wilder labelled online trolling "cowardly, disgusting and inhumane" and said the club is working with police on the matter.

Speaking about the issue of social media abuse earlier this month, he said: "Sometimes it crosses the line and it has at our football club, hence the situation we're dealing with.”

A Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) study covering the final six weeks of last season identified more than 3,000 explicitly abusive messages aimed at Premier League players, 56 per cent of which were racist.

South Yorkshire Police confirmed this investigation relates to malicious communications and not discriminatory abuse.

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A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “I can confirm that police are investigating an incident of malicious communications and enquiries are ongoing.

"It is an investigation into malicious communications reported by one individual.”