Manchester United released a statement last night after Bruno Fernandes had his X account hacked. Shortly after 11pm on Sunday night a string of posts appeared on Fernandes' account. The first of the series of bizarre posts saw hackers post: "Join Macclesfield FC. Excited for the future", referencing the National League North side who knocked out FA Cup holders Crystal Palace on Saturday.
After now-deleted posts about launching a cryptocurrency, the account added: “This is why I need to get paid more.” Focus soon turned to United’s struggles, with one post saying: “Let’s get rid of INEOS.”
The messages then became more explicit as time went on, with sexually charged comments made about former team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo, women's football star Alisha Lehmann and adult content creator Bonnie Blue. There were racist messages too, and in one of the final posts, the account posted an image of United’s 7-0 loss to Liverpool from 2023.
United, though, moved quickly to warn supporters against engaging with any social media posts from Fernandes’ account. In a post on X, they said: “Bruno Fernandes’s X account has been hacked. Supporters should not engage with any of the posts or direct messages.”
Prior to the incident, Fernandes’ account, active since April 2019, had just over 500 posts. His most recent legitimate update marked his 300th appearance for the club back in October.
Fernandes had just earlier played the full 90 minutes as his side’s season went from bad to worse against Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup. Goals from Brajan Gruda and Danny Welbeck secured the Seagulls a 2-1 third-round triumph at Old Trafford.
Benjamin Sesko scored late in a tie that ended with teenage substitute Shea Lacey being sent off for two bookable offences as United saw their hopes of silverware go up in smoke just 11 days into 2026, having also fallen at the first hurdle in the Carabao Cup.
Speaking after the game, interim boss Darren Fletcher said: "Mixed performance. We started OK and then the goal knocked the stuffing out of us.
"I challenged them at half-time to move the ball with tempo instead of just composure. When we got back to 2-1 I thought here we go, the crowd was up, the energy was up but we couldn't get it over the line and get an equalising goal."