Former Crystal Palace CEO, Simon Jordan, has named former Nigerian international, Ade Akinbiyi, as the worst signing he’s ever made, Soccernet.ng reports.
Jordan was in charge of the Eagles between 2000 and 2010 and signed Adebiyi in his second year in charge, but the England-born Nigerian striker never lived up to his £2.2million price tag.
Adebiyi, in 24 appearances for Crystal Palace found the back of the net just three times and Simon Jordan made his opinion about the one-capped Nigerian clear.
“Ade Akin Bad Buy [Akinbiyi]. He just was useless. I wasted my time and money, and he wasted his own time. The reality is how weak one can be when one says ‘I don’t want to do this’ and is worn down by the processes of the manager, eventually knowing something is wrong but you continually do it and then you’re surprised by the outcome,” the ex-Crystal Palace CEO said in quotes revealed by TalkSport.
Asked who was at fault for such a disastrous transfer, Jordan spread the blame equally.
“It was on the player, it was on the manager, and it was on me. I should’ve said no, but the problem is when you’re the owner of a football club you have to back him or sack him. I’m in a situation where this is my champion and he says he wants him. This guy looks bleeding useless to me and is going to cost me a fortune. I was looking at the boat he was buying thinking ‘I could buy that boat if I wasn’t buying that club footed clown that I know isn’t going to be of any use to me.”
“And that’s what I ended up doing and so he proved to be. I got neither the boat nor a decent player.”
Adebiyi never broke into the Nigerian first team due to inconsistencies with his performances at club level.