The North Stand and Stretford End were evacuated at 3pm after a suspicious package was found. Half an hour later, following the evacuation of the other stands when news of the abandonment had been announced, Ander Herrera spoke to Spanish newspaper Tiempo de Juego on the telephone.

“We are still in the dressing room and it seems we’ll be the last ones to leave the stadium,” he said. “It has been very tense and we have all been nervous.”

As late as 4pm, at the time the bomb squad arrived, the players were still in the stadium in a suite, with a 1000m radius evacaution zone outside of Old Trafford.