Eni Aluko insists Declan Rice theory proven right despite 'sexist' backlash

29 June 2023 , 08:55

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Arsenal have won the battle to sign Declan Rice (Image: Getty Images)

Eni Aluko insists she "knew exactly what she was talking about" after being criticised for her questionable Declan Rice transfer theory.

Aluko hit the headlines after suggesting Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola only made a bid for Rice to help his former assistant Mikel Arteta sign him for Arsenal. The theory raised eyebrows due to Arsenal and City being Premier League title rivals.

West Ham rejected a £90million bid from City for Rice, 24, before accepting Arsenal's third offer of £105m. Aluko believes Guardiola put a bid in for the England international at Arteta's request to "push" Arsenal's owners to get the deal over the line.

Aluko was criticised for her theory, with one former Premier League footballer claiming "she hasn't got a clue". Yet Aluko believes Arsenal's accepted bid has vindicated her and has slammed trolls for their "racist, sexist and misogynistic" abuse.

Aluko posted on Instagram shortly after news of Arsenal's accepted bid broke. She wrote: "I guess the 'token' 'clueless' 'braindead' pundit knew exactly what she was talking about on this one. Go figure. Thank you talkSPORT [for giving me a platform to speak]."

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Although Arsenal have now agreed a transfer fee for Rice, there is no evidence City's bid was only made to help the Gunners or that Arteta asked Guardiola to make an offer. West Ham's asking price for Rice has been £100m plus for some time.

Aluko also tweeted: "Safe to say I suspected Rice wasn’t going up the M6 to Manchester! I’ve had a lot of laughs on this today, it was very quiet from the pile on brigade - somehow a lot of haters went missing. Apologies are much quieter than disrespect.

Eni Aluko believes she's been vindicated (Photo by Alex Pantling - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)

Do you think Eni Aluko was proven right? Let us know in the comments below!

"Disagreement is part of the job. But disagreement should never be used by people to be sexist, racist, misogynistic to women in football. It’s an absolute disgrace and I won’t ignore it for the benefit of a lot of men who project their own jealousy and insecurity spouting abuse.

"Women in football are not going away. Get used to it. We know our stuff, we speak from a place of professional insight and experience. Take it or leave it, agree, disagree but if you choose sexism, racism, misogyny to disagree, you ARE the problem and you’re exposing yourself.

"If you spend your time attacking women in football, you are exposing the fact you can NEVER be at the same level. You’re entitled to opinion, don’t abuse it to be racist, sexist and misogynistic."

Aluko's name was trending on Twitter after talkSPORT published a video clip of her theory. Former City winger Darren Huckerby tweeted: "What an absolute load of nonsense! Shouldn't let people on when they haven't got a clue what they are talking about!"

Former Premier League goalkeeper Paddy Kenny added: "Never heard owt [anything] like it in my life. How does she get airtime? Biggest load of bull I've ever heard."

Speaking on Tuesday, Aluko told talkSPORT: "I think there’s a lot of cat and mouse going on here. As a sporting director [for Angel City and Aston Villa] I used to do this a lot. I used to call up a club, a big club, and say, 'Right can you put a bid in'. And that would basically force my owner to put a higher bid in.

"I don’t think Manchester City actually want to sign Declan Rice, I think what’s going on is Arteta has picked up the phone to Pep and said 'Listen, Arsenal are going to do the incremental bid approach, if you put a higher bid in, that will push my owner'."

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When asked why Arteta would want ramp up Rice's price and potentially limit his transfer budget, Aluko added: "For speed and to get the deal done. West Ham obviously want a certain valuation and I don’t know why Arsenal are taking this incremental approach.

"It says to me that Man City coming in later on is going to help Arsenal, because the fans are going to get on it now. The fans are going to say, 'Hold on, if you let Declan Rice go to Man City when he was our number one target, that says a lot about Arsenal'. I used to do it all the time and it used to work."

Tom Blow