Premier League giants Manchester United have refused to share player fitness data with the England national side over fears that it could be leaked to the public, according to reports.

The national team coach Gareth Southgate has four United stars in the squad set to play a crucial World Cup qualifier against Scotland before a follow-up friendly match against France. Southgate wanted the sports science data of the players but the Red Devils refused.

Southgate made the revelations at a press conference on Tuesday. He claimed his team shares data with clubs but that the clubs failed to reciprocate when the time came. He explained that the date helped while planning training schedule when they arrive at the camp. He added that recent happenings in the last weeks as clubs scrambled for maximum points made the data more important.

The staffs of the national team are from top clubs in the league. So clubs are reluctant to share the data to avoid others knows the fitness level of their players.

The FA wanted Man United to supply data from its performance monitoring tool ‘Omegawave.’ Southgate admitted that there could be trust issues. The FA is hoping to have its own permanent staff for the national team.

Southgate’s assistant is also a senior man at Chelsea as assistant in the first team. United were not comfortable with sharing data in such circumstance. Sports scientist Sam Erith and masseur Mark Sertori for example, who are with Man City, will not work with the national side again. The goalkeeping coach Martyn Margetson who is from Crystal Palace would be retained only.

Southgate agrees that they need to build trust with the clubs, and the new head of physical performance and nutrition Bryce Cavanagh is working on data sharing between the FA and Premier League clubs.

Southgate was quick to remind listeners that not every club provided data on their players, to avoid public criticism of United. He added that other countries faced the same thing too.