29 June 2023 , 19:58
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Simon Jordan told Eni Aluko that her theory over Declan Rice made "no sense" after she suggested Manchester City only bid for the star to aid Arsenal.
Citing her experience as a sporting director of Angel FC in Los Angeles, the former England international said she believed the treble winners only made an offer after a request from Mikel Arteta, to stir his own owners into immediate action. Her comments were questioned, although the 36-year-old seemingly had the last laugh when City decided to pull out of the running when the Gunners had a £105 million offer accepted.
She marked the news by tweeting back at those she claimed had made 'sexist, racist, misogynistic comments' towards her: "Safe to say I suspected Rice wasn’t going up the M6 to Manchester!" she tweeted. "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.
"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."
But the abrasive Jordan wasn't buying her theory, telling Aluko live on air on Thursday that she was implying the two Premier League giants had "manipulated an outcome." The pundit responded by arguing that it was communication, and not manipulation, that was at play.
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Interrupting, former Crystal Palace owner Jordan said: "But that makes no sense, Eni, in the commercial reality of the hard world. If you're a competitor, the last thing I'm going to do is give you any indication of what I'm prepared to do to get a deal done."
Aluko hit back with: "That's not my experience. In my experience, I communicated with my rivals. In men's football that might be very different, but with hundreds of millions of pounds being spent, I think it's naïve to think clubs don't communicate."
Eni Aluko appeared on talkSPORT to give her opinion (Twitter/@talkSPORT)HAVE YOUR SAY! Do you agree with Simon Jordan or Eni Aluko? Comment below.
Jordan though, rarely lets a debate pass without getting the final word, and was at pains to point out the financial disparity when comparing the men's professional game to the female version: "Your level is at a far lower level of economics," he said. "I think they weren't prepared to get into a bidding war.
"Ultimately, if Man City's valuation was £90 million and not a penny more, and they heard that West Ham were going to reject that bid, then they're going to walk away from the table. I think you're a little fortuitous with your timing.
"Look at the observations people make about punditry, credible observations, anyone can throw out stuff people react to, but you need to have substance behind what you say. Your experiences may be substantive, but I do not think they relate to the men's game. Not a man-woman thing. It's a scale thing. Big clubs do not like doing bids with one another. It makes no sense."