Simon Jordan has given a brutal verdict after Gary Neville and David Beckham fronted a full takeover of Salford City from their fellow former Manchester United legends
Simon Jordan has branded Gary Neville a “pest” and a “hypocrite” after it was confirmed that both he and David Beckham front a full takeover of Salford City. Neville, who bought out the stake of former co-owner Peter Lim last year, has been involved with the Ammies since 2014 alongside fellow ‘Class of 92’ members, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Phil Neville and Paul Scholes.
Beckham, who joined forces with the group in 2019, and Neville have now taken full control of the League Two club as part of a group that also includes former banker Lord Mervyn Davies and businessman Declan Kelly. The other ‘Class of 92’ members have sold their shares but remain involved with the club.
Beckham has already spoken about Salford rising up through the leagues like Wrexham have done under Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Beckham told The Athletic: “We want Salford to be successful and we have had success, but then we want it to go on to the next level.
“I always dream big so I’m always going to want us to get to the pinnacle of football and be in the Premier League. But there’s a lot of hard work and a lot of investment to be done up until that point.”
talkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan has given his verdict and believes Neville and Beckham have been driven to action by the success of Wrexham, who will be playing Championship football next season after three straight promotions.
“They’ve got a window of opportunity because they’ve seen what Wrexham have done,” he added. “They’ve seen the value of star power, and that value of star power has given revenues to Wrexham via Ryan Reynolds and the other fella. That’s given them the resources to punch their way into the Championship.”
Jordan went on to brand Neville a “pest” although he acknowledged the former England defender’s resourcefulness. He said: “I find it very difficult to applaud Gary Neville on many things. I think he’s a resourceful character.
“If you’ve taken the task on, it’s incumbent upon you – if you have a set of standards and you rate yourself, which most certainly he does – to produce an outcome that’s meaningful.”
Jordan added: “I don’t mind Neville, I just think he’s a bit of a pest. I think he has too much to say on other subjects that he’s not well-versed in, and he’s a hypocrite. But in the instance of Salford, it will be interesting… they’ve seen the Wrexham model. They should be saying, ‘Why can’t it be us?’”
Beckham has also revealed that he wants to lead Salford to the Premier League. He told The Athletic: “We’re definitely not doing it for a laugh and it’s also not for the romantic side of things. Yes, we care about the club but we’re doing it to win.
“We want Salford to be successful and we have had success, but then we want it to go on to the next level. I always dream big so I’m always going to want us to get to the pinnacle of football and be in the Premier League. But there’s a lot of hard work and a lot of investment to be done up until that point.”
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