Keir Starmer’s a ‘turnip’ say Arsenal followers as he offers Chinese rule matchball from defeat
Baffled fans were asking if Sir Keir had made a balls up for giving Manchester United fan President Xi from his team’s crushing defeat
Keir Starmer has been branded a ‘turnip’(Image: 2026 Getty Images)
Top Gooner Sir Keir Starmer was branded a “turnip” by Arsenal fans for handing China’s President Xi a match ball from his team’s crushing Manchester United defeat.
Baffled supporters were stunned by the PM’s “humiliating” actions as one miffed Arsenal fan declared on X: “We can’t compete. Our own fan giving the match ball to opps.”
Another said “Let’s hope it’s cursed” while one more added: “Keir Starmer is an absolute turnip.” But a more optimistic fan joked: “Manchester United might literally be the thing that prevents World War 3.”
Downing Street sources said Sir Keir gave the ball as Xi is a keen football fan. He received a copper horse statue and some flutes in return.
The two leaders chatted about the game and the PM was said to be “gobsmacked” when the Chinese premier told him he follows four teams.
He namechecked Manchester United, Manchester City and Crystal Palace, snubbing Liverpool and Chelsea. Fears of a diplomatic spat were sparked in 2015 when Xi’s Old Trafford visit was ditched for Manchester City’s Etihad.
During that trip, he posed for a selfie with Sergio Aguero and David Cameron. Starmer’s China visit is the first by a UK prime minister in eight years and has drawn criticism over spying and human rights worries.
But Downing Street insists cosying up to the world’s second-largest economy will boost Britain. Critics mocked the PM’s wins, including visa-free travel for short UK visits.
They queried whether it was worth risking national security for but Starmer defended cutting red tape.
He said: “As one of the world’s economic powerhouses, businesses have been crying out for ways to grow their footprints in China.
“We’ll make it easier for them to do so – including via relaxed visa rules for short-term travel – supporting them to expand abroad, all while boosting growth and jobs at home.”
Meanwhile whisky makers cheered tax cuts on their plonk. Bottles sold from the UK to China will have import taxes slashed from 10% to 5% in a move expected to be worth £250m over five years for exporters.
But the Lib Dems’ foreign affairs spokesperson Calum Miller blasted the PM’s deals as “all give and no take”.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch previously said Sir Keir should have axed his China trip and joked he would “probably give the Isle of Wight away”.
Daily Star says
FOOTBALL is one of life’s great universal subjects. But we can all surely agree that as a tool to win political influence, it has limited power. Unfortunately that message doesn’t appear to have reached Sir Keir Starmer. He desperately sought to use football to his advantage in China.
The embattled PM, who’s facing questions over his future at home, is desperately trying to cosy up to the country in order to boost the UK’s ailing economy.And in a bid to win over the country’s President Xi Jinping, a Manchester United fan, he gave him a match ball from Arsenal’s devastating defeat at the hands of the Red Devils.
As a supposed Gooner, it was a strange move. In fact, it was downright baffling –and has made him look a bit of a wally. Instead of highlighting what we have to offer, he carried out a silly stunt.
It’s left him looking like a great fool of China.
