Former Manchester City player Nigel de Jong was at the centre of negative attention last week as Turkey’s Fanatik said he’d made a ‘throat cutting’ gesture to opposition (Bursaspor).

Galatasaray are under pressure to end their poor form after they lost 2-0 to Fenerbahçe last weekend and De Jong was one of the players targeted by the Turkish press for his bad performances.

But the 32-year old played a good match against 4th place Bursaspor, only to find himself in hot water afterwards for something he hadn’t done.

Whilst at Manchester City De Jong was always one bad tackle away from, often deserved, bad publicity, this was something altogether different.

Fanatik published a full article claiming De Jong made the sickening gesture, and had an image to back themselves up.

However, when the full video emerged, it was clear De Jong was simply encouraging his own fans to hold their heads up high.

Hier zie je @NDJ_Official na de gewonnen wedstrijd tegen Bursaspor tegen de supporters zeggen “hold your head up high” pic.twitter.com/8BK2kpZxkQ — Yordi (@TheFev) November 29, 2016

Fanatik trying something against De Jong is likelier to work because of the player’s history, but this time they’ve gone way too far.

A favourite among many Manchester City fans because of his commitment and tough tackling, De Jong went on to play for AC Milan, LA Galaxy, and is now at Galatasaray.