Man City manager Pep Guardiola’s emails ‘hacked’ as man arrested in investigation

Guardiola was reportedly the target of an email hack in 2017 after players’ contact details and private transfer discussions were allegedly stolen

A man has been arrested after an investigation was launched into the alleged hacking of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola’s emails.

Greater Manchester Police have said that a 30-year-old man has been released after being questioned, and that investigations into the alleged data breach are ongoing.

A police spokesperson said: "Greater Manchester Police are currently investigating allegations made regarding the Computer Misuse Act.

"A 30-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.

"He has been released under investigation."

A report in The Sun newspaper claimed that an IT contractor has spoken to them about emails that apparently contain players’ contact details and private transfer discussions, with a number of players said to have been mentioned.

The newspaper also reported that the hacker was allegedly attempting to sell the details for £100,000.

The Sun alerted Manchester City to the allegations, and the Premier League club reported the matter to the police to launch an investigation.

A City spokeswoman said: "While we had terminated the services of this consultant and the company he was contracted to two years ago, we were unaware of the serious crimes he is alleged to have committed whilst working with us and the subsequent alleged attempts to profit from those crimes.

"It is a matter of public record that we have been the target of several criminal attacks through our IT systems in recent years."