Merseyside police investigate 'racist' tweets to Raheem Sterling and threats against his daughter

Merseyside Police are investigating a number of vile Tweets - including some which appeared to threaten his three-year-old daughter - directed at former Liverpool player Raheem Sterling following his switch to Manchester City.

Other tweets appeared to be racist in nature and a number of others were threatening in tone, calling the ex-Reds striker a c*** for making the move in a deal which with bonuses could be worth up to £100m.

One tweet, from @Bestellia, said: "I'm going to hunt your daughter down and lock her up you f****** n*****! Betraying my club for money, typical f****** b*****!"

In response another troll, @_NH44 wrote: "f****** black c*** literally hope he f****** dies snake c***. He's not English he's Jamaican."

In what appeared to be a disturbing threat directed at Sterling's three-year-old daughter Melody Rose @xRaheemGo, wrote: "Sleep with one eye open you disloyal t***, hug your daughter harder than you ever have before because I am coming for her."

Many of the tweets and accounts have since been deleted, but Merseyside Police confirmed they were investigating.

In a statement a spokesman said: "The language used in these tweets is abhorrent.

"We are taking the incident extremely seriously and an investigation by detectives in Liverpool CID is on-going.

"People who use the Internet to target others and who commit criminal offences such as harassment or hate crime in doing so are not beyond the law and can expect to be brought to justice."

Sterling has been made aware of the Tweets, which were roundly condemned by many Liverpool fans. His £49m transfer makes him the most expensive English player to move between English clubs and the third most expensive in Premier League history.

Earlier, Joe Adams, a 17-year-old was bombarded with abuse - some of it racist in nature - after his phone number was posted on the internet by someone claiming it belonged to Sterling.