Rebekah Vardy Denies Leaking Information About 'Fuming' Leicester Squad After Riyad Mahrez Missed Training

Rebekah Vardy and her agent discussed whether to leak a story about former Leicester City star Riyad Mahrez going on strike at the club, the High Court has heard.

The details have emerged as part of Vardy's ongoing 'Wagatha Christie' libel battle against Coleen Rooney, the wife of former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney.

Coleen Rooney has accused Rebekah Vardy of leaking her family's private information as well as false stories to The Sun – claiming she identified her as the culprit responsible following a sting operation on social media.

Vardy denies the accusations and is suing Rooney for libel.

On Wednesday, the second day of trial, Rooney's lawyer challenged Vardy over messages she sent to her agent Caroline Watt after Mahrez failed to turn up for training at Leicester back in 2018.

At the time, Mahrez was pushing for a move to Manchester City, who he would later join in a £60m transfer.

In the WhatsApp message, Rebekah Vardy wrote: "Mahrez not turned up for training again. The lads are fuming."

The High Court was told Watt suggested they leak the information to Sky Sports News reporter Rob Dorsett, who was covering the story of Mahrez's potential move to City.

I’m told Riyad Mahrez failed to report for #lcfc training this morning. He has now missed two training sessions and a game, so is technically in breach of contract and on strike. Sources say he is depressed after failing to get his move to #mcfc.

— Rob Dorsett (@RobDorsettSky) February 1, 2018

It heard that Vardy then replied to Watt: "I just don’t want it coming back on me."

Dorsett would later tweet: "I'm told Riyad Mahrez failed to report for #lcfc training this morning. He has now missed two training sessions and a game, so is technically in breach of contract and on strike.

"Sources say he is depressed after failing to get his move to #mcfc."

Vardy has also denied an accusation that her agent passed information to The Sun newspaper about the Leicester squad's reaction to Mahrez missing training.

When asked by Rooney's barrister, David Sherborne, if Watt had told the newspaper that other players were "fuming" about the incident, she added: "That's absolutely not true."

Vardy claims that she was "just gossiping" when messaging her agent, adding that her husband had "never discussed whether the lads were fuming".

"It was speculation of just bits of information that I had heard and overheard, and also read in the press before," said Vardy.

She added: "Yes, it doesn't look good there, I was gossiping about things that were already in the public domain. I was just gossiping."

The trial continues and is expected to last seven days.