Simon Jordan slams West Ham owners amid reported £50m interest in Leeds United star

TalkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan has slammed West Ham owners David Gold and David Sullivan amid reports suggesting that the Hammers were plotting a big money raid for Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips.

According to The Sun, the Irons were in the process of submitting a £50 million bid for the Elland Road favourite in the latter stages of the January transfer window.

But Jordan has argued that there is a high likelihood that the rumour was part of a broader tactic from Gold designed to make him and his club look ambitious.

Speaking on talkSPORT, the outspoken pundit made reference to an interaction he had with the Gold during their respective boardroom tenures at Crystal Palace and Birmingham City.

He said: “Indulge me for a second. I wrote an article in The Guardian about 15 years ago about David Sullivan and his transfer activity.

“I’m going to read this paragraph: ‘I’ve had enough dealings with them to fill the paper, but here’s the most recent.

‘Before our game against Birmingham last season, Sullivan came over to me: ‘Simon, Simon my boy, we know what you’re like with bad decisions. We don’t want any bad decisions’ referring to Andy Johnson. Twelve months later, imagine my surprise when Sullivan told the press I’d rejected his £6.5 million bid for Andy Johnson.

‘There was no bid, no approach, no enquiry, nothing. Sullivan misled the press and the public in an attempt to unsettle my player and to make himself and Birmingham look ambitious’.”

He added: “I don’t believe that there’s any real interest [in Phillips].

“Listen, first of all, the player’s got two-and-a-half years left on his contract.

“This is a standard way of operating that Sullivan and Gold have. Who in god’s name told them that Kalvin Phillips is ready to go to West Ham and wants to go to West Ham, and on what basis would they have gone in on a £50 million player who was never going to go there in the first place?

“It looks good on paper. We can all bid for players and make sure the media are aware of our ambitions without actually being able to conclude them.”