Former Man Utd player claims 'being broke is no excuse to be fat' in controversial social media post

A former Manchester United player has made a controversial claim on social media.

Exeter City winger Demetri Mitchell had been in impressive form this season before suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury in s 3-2 Carabao Cup fourth-round loss to Middlesbrough last week.

Mitchell graduated from United’s academy and won the Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year award in 2018.

However, he went on to make just one senior appearance for the club in May 2017, before being released in 2020.

After spells at Blackpool and Hibernian, Mitchell has found a home at Exeter, having netted five times in 33 appearances since joining the club in January.

However, Mitchell, who describes himself as “a footballer with a personality”, has caused controversy with one of his posts on X, the social media platform formally known as Twitter.

The ex-United youngster said: “Being broke is no excuse to be fat.

“Water is cheaper than coke. Broccoli is cheaper than chocolate. [A] packet of Rice is cheaper than chips. Cooking at home is cheaper than McDonald's.

“It also doesn’t cost anything to go on a run.”

When a person replied claiming it was difficult to eat healthy with a busy schedule, Mitchell added: “[Yeah] you’re right but even if you eat bad food just don’t overeat it and you won’t get fat.

“It’s overeating too many calories that makes you fat not actually the bad food.”

His original comment has been viewed some 609,000 times and received considerable backlash.

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