Eni Aluko's reason for picking Jude Bellingham over Diego Maradona riles football fans

Former England Lionesses star Eni Aluko chose Jude Bellingham as the best player from a pool of eight players with the Real Madrid star seeing off Diego Maradona

Joshua Peck Assistant Sports Editor

09:03, 29 Dec 2023

Eni Aluko has riled football fans after picking Jude Bellingham over Diego Maradona(Image: Getty Images)

Eni Aluko has riled football fans after picking Jude Bellingham over Diego Maradona purely because of where he's from.

Former England Lionesses star Aluko has become a familiar face on TV screens as a pundit in recent years. Though her views aren't replicated by all fans.

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And she has divided opinion again while working through a football knockout game on social media while working on Amazon Prime's Premier League coverage.

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Having whittled the eight selections down to a Bellingham vs Maradona final, Aluko decided: "Oh my god, Jude Bellingham because he's from Birmingham."

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And her reasoning riled fans, especially after selecting Maradona over Bellingham's fellow Birmingham native Jack Grealish in an earlier round.

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Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid celebrates a goal during the Spanish league, La Liga EA Sports, football match played between Real Betis and Real Madrid at Benito Villamarin stadium on December 9, 2023

Jude Bellingham has the football world at his feet(Image: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

One fan wrote on social media: "That could be the worst overall set of picks I have ever seen." With another adding: "That’s like saying Gabby Abonhlahor was better than Zlatan cuz he was from Birmingham."

While plenty of supporters were keen to know of Joey Barton's opinions following his recent wild views on female pundits in the men's game.

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Diego Maradona is a footballing legend but Eni Aluko picked Jude Bellingham over the Argentina icon(Image: Getty Images)

One said: "Don’t show this to Joey Barton." With another writing: "@Joey7Barton thoughts on this mate?"

Barton has gone on something of a rampage against female pundits and women footballers in recent weeks. He hit out on X, formerly known as Twitter, and doubled down during an appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored.

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Joey Barton has been outspoken on his views regarding women in football(Image: TALKTV)

The former QPR and Manchester City midfielder then called England Lionesses goalkeeper 'a big sack of spuds' after she won this year's BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

He wrote: "To win before Ronnie O’Sullivan and Frankie Dettori…? Well, that’s just madness to me. Both almost genius like in their respective fields. They’ve lost to a big sack of spuds that plays in goal for a girls team.

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"That’s the world we live in. This all started with the ‘Everyone’s a Winner’ sport’s days. This is what happens when you celebrate mediocre. You breed this weak culture. A culture of losers. A culture of snowflakes."