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MCBURNIE ARREST
Sheffield United star Oli McBurnie arrested after ‘punching man in street bust-up’
SHEFFIELD UNITED star Oli McBurnie has been arrested after a video of him allegedly punching a man in a street bust-up went viral.
The £20million ace, 24, appeared to march up to the man as he videos him on his phone.
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The striker was held by officers from North Yorkshire Police after insurance broker Elliott Wright, 21, reported the incident, and has now been released on bail.
The Leeds United fan had been with friends on Saturday evening when he spotted McBurnie arguing with a girl in the street.
He told him to calm down – and then poked fun at him for his team getting relegated to the Championship.
Bearded McBurnie, wearing trainers and a tracksuit top and bottoms, was seen in the video allegedly striding towards Elliott, knocking the phone to the ground and stamping on it before allegedly assaulting him.
The 24-second film – which has been viewed more than a million times – then shows him allegedly kneeing and punching Elliott who was left with a swollen black eye and cuts to his face.
Elliott said: “We were walking and I saw him arguing with this girl. I was with two of my mates and he was getting a bit aggressive and getting a bit loud.
“I said chill out mate it can’t be worse than getting relegated as a joke.
“He seemed alright at first. He was saying put your phone away lads, put your phone away. I said: ‘Why? Why would I want to put my phone away? And then he’s just smacked me.
“He has hit me a few times and one of my mates has dragged him off me and him and the girl and another lad all walked off. He put his hood up and walked off.”
LEFT SHAKEN
Elliott, of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, was left shaken with facial injuries but did not need hospital treatment.
He added: “I was just a bit messed up to be honest.
“It’s a bit bad like.”
Scottish international McBurnie earned a £20m move to United from Swansea in 2019 after scoring 24 goals in a season for the South Wales side.
He was joint top scorer for United in his first season with six goals but has struggled to find form this year, hitting the net just once.
The £20,000-a-week forward is currently out injured after breaking his foot in the 3-0 defeat to Arsenal last month.
The injury has put a question mark over his inclusion in the Scotland squad for the Euros.
In July last year he was fined £30,000 by Leeds JPs after he was caught drink driving in his Audi R8 in October 2019.
The incident happened on Saturday evening in McBurnie’s home town of Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. He was arrested late yesterday after Elliott reported the matter to police and was held in custody overnight.
A North Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said: “A 24-year-old man from Knaresborough has been arrested in connection with an incident, which involved another man being assaulted.
“The 21-year-old victim sustained facial injuries during the incident, which happened shortly before 8.30pm on Saturday 8 May on High Street, Knaresborough.
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“The 24-year-old arrested man remains in custody at this time.
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“Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to contact police.”
A Sheffield United spokesman said: “Officials at Sheffield United are aware of the video circulating on social media and are currently investigating.”
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Oli McBurnie shows off his skills in Sheffield training
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