The real reason why footballers cover their mouths when speaking to each other has been explained

Footballers covering their mouths when speaking on the pitch has become a normal sight for fans watching on television.

It has been a regular occurrence for a number of years, with barely any conversations happening without hands being over mouths.

Naturally, fans have always wondered what the reason is and Phil Hall, a PR consultant who has worked with a host of Premier League clubs and players, offered an interesting take.

According to Hall, using their hands near mouths can actually make a player's voice travel better so they can be heard clearer.

He gave his expert opinion after Pep Guardiola's infamous animated discussion with Nathan Redmond in 2017.

"A player once told me one of the main reasons they do it is, sometimes you are doing it when you are close to somebody, it amplifies your voice so they can hear you," Hall said, as per The Sun.

"There is a lot of noise around them in a stadium and on the pitch, they need to amplify the voice.

"In a loud ground, when you speak normally the sound is being spread out.

"It's like a foghorn, if you put your hand over your mouth and point it to the person you are talking to it is much clearer."

Yet Manchester City captain Kyle Walker provided a much simpler explanation for players covering their mouths every time they communicate.

He claims it is merely to avoid cameras and lip-readers picking up on exchanges - something which happened to Walker during a spat with Neal Maupay during City's 3-1 win over Brentford last season.

The England right-back was asked the question by Chris Hughes on his BBC podcast 'You'll Never Beat Kyle Walker' and gave an honest answer.

"It's so the cameras can't see!" Walker responded.

"You might be swearing, or having a little bit of banter.

"You might have seen them [the other player] on a night out the week before, and you're just having a bit of banter, but it is what it is.

"In the world we live in now, everything... you've got lip-readers now. What is this world coming to?"