Sporting CP director hits out at David Sullivan, says football is not an “adult film”

For years West Ham United co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold have been two of the most interesting characters in football.

Recent years though have seen the two become the focus of ire from Hammers fans due to a perceived lack of ambition and clarity at the club, with club's poor summer and start to the season seeing this intensify. This criticism has intensified during a summer in which the club has been accused of signing players past their best and failing to sign suitable targets. Part of the team's disappointing dealings saw them target Sporting CP midfielder William Carvalho, who appeared close to a move as the transfer window neared its end. The deal never materialised however, which led to David Sullivan accusing the Portuguese team of making a U-turn. "Late last night Sporting Lisbon made contact to accept the original offer, but unfortunately it was just too late in the day," he told the club's official website.

The football industry is not the platform of an adult film

This version of events has been labelled false by a director of the Portuguese club, who also had a few choice words for the businessman who made part of his fortune in the adult industry. In the statement posted on his Facebook page, director Nuno Saraiva calls Sullivan a liar and questions his ethics, in a tirade that will likely see business between the two club dry up for the foreseeable future.

Mr. David Sullivan is lying. As Sporting's President affirmed, no offer whatsoever arrived for William Carvalho. The football industry is not the platform of an adult film in which any obscenity is allowed. As such being a director of a football club requires much more than this intellectual pornography. Mr David Sullivan has the duty to prove his statements. One thing is certain, Sporting doesn't cut the legs from under our players. We have nothing to do with the actions of family members or agents who live off of the players' salary and offer them to clubs at discount prices [...] treating the situation like a supermarket.

Quite what this statement actually achieves remains to be seen, but the to and fro between the clubs and the lack of clear information coming from the London Stadium will, at the very least, be cause for concern for West Ham fans. However, with three defeats from three Premier League games so far this season, they probably have bigger things to worry about.