Eniola Aluko has left football fans baffled after sharing a theory about Declan Rice’s potential move to Arsenal, suggesting that the north London club asked Manchester City to put in a bid for the player. Arsenal have been chasing Rice over recent weeks and had an offer of £75 million plus £15 million in add-ons rejected. It’s also emerged that Man City have entered the race and had a £90 million bid rejected too, reportedly falling short of West Ham’s £100 million valuation for the player. Now, former England international Aluko has claimed that it could be a case of Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta calling up his former colleague Pep Guardiola and getting him to place a bid without really being interested in Rice. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Aluko has been sporting director for Aston Villa Women and Angel City in the US, and she said that it’s a tactic she had used in the past - but fans on social media aren't at all convinced. Aluko said: “There’s a lot of cat and mouse here and as a sporting director, I used to do this a lot. “I used to call up a club and say 'right, can you put a bid in' and that would get my owner to basically put a higher bid in. It’s a bit like an auction. “I don’t think that Manchester City actually want to sign Declan Rice. I think what is going on here is that Arteta has picked up the phone to Pep [Guardiola] and said ‘Arsenal are going to do the incremental bid approach, if you put a bid in, then that will push my owner’. “I think there’s a bit of that going on here.” Aluko went on to say: “I don’t know why Arsenal are doing this incremental approach but it says to me, Man City coming in later on, it feels like that it is going to help Arsenal. “The fans are going to get on it now and say ‘hold on a second, if you let Declan Rice go to Man City when he was our No.1 target, then that says a lot about Arsenal. “So I think there is a bit of that going on. I used to do it all the time and it used to work.” The opinion didn’t go down well with fans on social media, with users criticising the take. “What a bizarre take,” one wrote. Another said: “This might be the worst take I’ve ever heard.” One more commented: “Worst opinion and take I've seen on here for a while. Is she on a wind up or is this genuine?” Another added: “Pep just bidding £90m to help a mate is a proper weird take.” Former striker Aluko played 102 times for England, scoring 33 goals. She played for Chelsea, Atlanta Beat, Chelsea and Juventus during her club career. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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England Deaf Women defender Claire Stancliffe says it “really hits me deep” that her “hero” Steven Gerrard has donated £5,000 to the fundraising effort aiming to get the team to September’s World Cup in Malaysia. The campaign has been launched after the Football Association last month announced it was switching focus and funding for the national deaf women’s team from the 11-a-side format to futsal. The overall target is £100,000, with half of that required by the end of June. A fundraising page has been set up by the Deaf Sports and Football Foundation and more than £13,000 has been raised so far, including donations of £5,000 each from ex-England and Liverpool captain Gerrard and his former international team-mate, Manchester United defender Gary Neville. Stancliffe, who grew up a Reds fan, told the PA news agency: “Steven Gerrard is my hero. When I was younger I just wanted to watch Liverpool play, and Steven Gerrard was the player I wanted to be. “I had the same boots as him, I was central midfielder back then and I used to score goals like him. So from a very young age, I’ve watched him, I’ve wanted to be like him. I’ve always wanted to meet him – I haven’t quite managed that yet! And knowing he’s donated, it really hits me deep. “That was quite an emotional message to receive (when she was told about Gerrard’s donation).” Neville is involved again, having previously donated £20,000 towards getting a Great Britain side to the 2017 Deaflympics in Turkey. Stancliffe, a world, European and Deaflympic bronze medallist, was part of that team, and said of Neville: “I just messaged him saying, ‘Is there any chance you could share our fundraising page?’ “He came back and said, ‘I’ll share it and I’ll give you £5,000 as well’. That was lovely of him. What he’s done for us, I’m really grateful for that.” The 34-year-old said she was feeling “positive” about the £50,000 target, adding: “We have the fundraising page, that’s our main focus, but at the same time we’re working hard behind the scenes to secure a sponsorship deal with someone.” Regarding the FA’s announcement, Stancliffe said: “Obviously as a player I’m disappointed with the decision the FA have made but I totally respect what they’ve done and for me the big focus now has to be on getting that squad to Malaysia.” The FA said in its announcement that the change followed “consultation with existing players and staff within the England Deaf Women’s squad and the wider performance programme, alongside key conversations with stakeholders representing the deaf football community”. It said the decision addressed “the need for a new approach for the pathway, and to ensure there are regular international opportunities for players to perform on the world stage”, adding it “mirrors the decisions made by other nations who are respected in deaf international football and futsal provision, with deaf female futsal being the preferred format of the game for an increasing number of nations”. Catherine Gilby, the FA’s head of para performance, told PA there had been concern over the potential competitiveness of an 11-a-side England team and the depth of international competition. Gilby added: “At the moment, it’s a grassroots challenge that we need to work with our partners in the FA to address, and we’re committed to do that. We’ve still got a role to play in making sure that, if 11-a-side is what some female deaf players want to play, there’s an avenue to do that.” Following the FA’s April announcement, Great Britain Deaf Football said it was now supporting England Deaf Women to send a team to Malaysia, adding: “(A) recent deaf women 11-a-side survey that GBDF conducted indicated that there was plenty of interest and commitment to compete at the 2023 World Cup, 2024 Euros and Deaflympics in 2025 where possible.” GBDF on Sunday announced Lauren Asquith, who formerly worked in the FA’s para football set-up, as head coach of the team for the World Cup and Euros. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Cricket Scotland hands out first professional women’s deals in ‘landmark moment’ Real Madrid have ‘nothing to fear’ against Man City, Dani Carvajal claims Arsenal to increase number of Women’s Super League games at Emirates Stadium

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