The Guardian had an interesting piece last week on a blog post by Manchester United goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard (above), who wrote “passionately about the need for a gay hero” in football.

The Dane conceded that gay players were still afraid to come out because of the fear of the reception they would receive from fans, but said “my impression is that the players would not have a problem accepting a homosexual”.

Meanwhile, in other news: Liverpool midfielder Suso Fernández posted a photo on Twitter last week of his team-mate José Enrique having his teeth whitened.

“What the **** is he doing,” he wrote, “this guy is gay. He has some mental problems.”

Upon being informed by a fellow Twitterer that “being gay isn’t a mental illness”, Suso deleted the tweet and replied: “I didn’t mean it in that way about ‘gay’ . . . just joking.”

Lindegaard might need to edit that blog post.