Gabby Agbonlahor’s claim that David Beckham treated England team-mates with disgust on international duty have been dismissed as ‘all BS’ by Phil Neville.
Former Aston Villa striker Agbonlahor made his Three Lions debut in 2008 when Beckham was already a household name for the nation. And the talkSPORT pundit explained that he entered an environment that was divided into cliques – with players from the bigger clubs such as Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea rubbing shoulders, while the stars from the smaller teams in the Premier League like Middlesbrough, West Ham and Villa, were left to huddle together.
Sitting amongst the country’s big names like Wayne Rooney, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry and Steven Gerrard was a no-no, for the star-struck Agbonlahor and his mates, he insisted. But there was one player in particular who the retired forward says was completely unapproachable – David Beckham.
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Beckham kept himself away from the group and often had his head buried in his diary, according to Agbonlahor. And one day, fellow Three Lions counterpart Phil Jagielka dared to ask Beckham a question about the Milan derby, which infuriated the England captain who looked at the defender with disgust, Agbonlahor relayed to talkSPORT.
He said: “David Beckham used to sit in the middle of the table and didn’t speak to anyone. He had his diary in the middle and would just keep himself to himself. I remember Phil Jagielka asking him a question about the Milan derby and he literally closed his book in disgust.
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“Like “are you really asking me this, I’m trying to be on my own”. He didn’t want to talk to anyone. I was looking at Phil Jagielka like… ‘brave you are, asking that question’.”
But Neville didn’t take kindly to Agbonlahor’s allegations and leapt to Beckham’s defence on Twitter, retorting: “ALL BS this!!!”. Neville spent years with Beckham at United during the club’s golden era under Sir Alex Ferguson, and the pair have continued their relationship in the MLS where the ex-defender manages his former team-mate’s Inter Miami team.
They could soon be joined in the US by another former Red Devils comrade Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo’s seeking an escape from Old Trafford amid the fallout from his explosive interview slamming United, and Inter Miami have been touted as a possible escape for the 37-year-old.
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