Mason Greenwood is protecting his luxury home with a £25,000 attack dog.
The Manchester United star – suspended indefinitely by his club after being arrested following rape claims – has a large German Shepherd-type animal that roams free in the grounds of his gated house during the day.
It also has a kennel at the side of the red-brick home.
Greenwood has also fitted new security cameras to monitor his six-bed, £14,000-a-month rented home in Cheshire round the clock.
Protection dogs cost between £10,000 and £25,000 and are usually Belgian or German Shepherds, Dobermans or giant Cane Corsos.
Two UK firms – Chaperone K9 and Elite Protection Dogs – use animals from military or police backgrounds to supply stars.
They are trained to change from docile family pets to vicious attack dogs if intruders are detected.
It is not known which company supplied £75,000-a-week striker Greenwood’s pooch.
But London-based Elite Protection Dogs’ website says its personal protection animals “are dedicated to shield you, by demand, from any possible danger”.
Greenwood’s United team-mates Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard also have guard dogs.
Greenwood, 20, has been bailed pending further inquiries following his arrest on suspicion of rape, sexual assault, making threats to kill and assault.
News of the allegations will be of a huge concern to England boss Gareth Southgate, just 10 months before the start of the World Cup.
Greenwood has not been picked for the Three Lions since being sent home from Iceland in disgrace in September 2020, after he and Phil Foden broke Covid protocols by inviting two women back to the hotel in Reykjavik.
It emerged in the autumn that Greenwood had asked Southgate not to be considered for international selection until the next round of games in March.
Greenwood, 20, made his United debut in 2019 and gone on to score 35 goals in 129 appearances to establish himself as one of the brightest young talents in Europe.