Former Arsenal star Mesut Ozil has called for the people responsible for the sick bomb threat Harry Maguire received this week to be "punished".
Reports emerged on Thursday revealing that police had been called to the Manchester United captain's home after the 29-year-old received an email claiming that a bomb had been planted at his home. A statement released shortly after from Cheshire police revealed that "a police explosives dog" had searched the property that Maguire shares with his fiancee Fern Hawkins and his two daughters, and "the surrounding area".
Maguire has been slammed by fans on numerous occasions this season after a string of lacklustre displays, with United also struggling badly in the league. But this latest ordeal - which came just 24 hours after United were thumped by bitter rivals Liverpool - has left Ozil stunned. The classy playmaker was also subjected to abuse at times during his stint in the Premier League - and he insisted that whoever is responsible for the sick threat that was issued to Maguire and his family went too far and must be punished.
The Fenerbahce ace said on social media: "Just read the news about Harry Maguire, this is just insane. Football can never ever be that serious to be threatening a player and his family. I'm shocked. Sometimes football brings out the worst in people. Hopefully all people involved get punished.”
Although Maguire was present for training at Manchester United's Carrington training ground on Thursday, reports have since emerged claiming that the defender is set to be left out of Saturday's crunch top-four clash with Arsenal as a result of the ordeal. However, United's interim chief Ralf Rangnick was quick to throw his support behind Maguire after the incident on Friday.
Rangnick said: "I haven’t seen him because I only got to know about this terrible, terrible thing yesterday afternoon and since then I haven’t been able to speak with him. This is another bad sign of the crazy world we’re living in and obviously, I feel very sorry for Harry that he had that terrible experience.
"He knows that we are all behind him, the club is behind him, everybody, the players, his teammates. It’s sad enough that crazy things like that happen."
But while there are reports suggesting he may be left out of the United side, The Athletic have reported that Maguire is adamant that he still wishes to travel to the Emirates for the crunch fixture.
Maguire has already responded to the incident in a statement from his spokesperson. The statement reads: "The safety of his family and those around him is obviously Harry's number one priority. He will continue to prepare for this weekend's fixture as normal and we will not be commenting in any further detail at this time."
