FANS were all left saying the same thing after Phil Foden was spotted alongside Salt Bae.
The celebrity chef sparked controversy at the Qatar World Cup final after entering the pitch following Argentina’s shootout win over France.
Salt Bae – real name Nusret Gokce – was seen snatching the Jules Rimet to perform his trademark sprinkle, biting a winner’s medal and pestering stars including Lionel Messi for a selfie. The 39-year-old subsequently landed himself a ban from other major sporting events as Fifa launched its own investigation into how he was able to gatecrash the final.
Despite this, he was spotted in attendance at the Champions League final in his homeland of Turkey earlier this month. And weeks after Manchester City’s Treble achievement, Foden was spotted posing for a picture alongside the viral chef.
The pair could be seen holding up three fingers together, gesturing the three trophies won by City, with Foden captioning the post: “Nice to see you my friend 🤝.”
However, fans rushed to the comments to warn Foden, 23, about a potential ulterior motive.
One fan quipped: “Surprised he didn’t rip the Champions League trophy out of your hands in Turkey!”
A second fan remarked: “Did he also touch the Champions League trophy?”
“He wants to carry the Champions League cup💀,” declared a third.
A fourth joked: “Now he is going to steal your Champions League medal.”
While another fan scoffed: “Did he charge you 69 grand to sprinkle salt over his fillet?”
Despite his less-than-glowing reputation among sports fans, Salt Bae defended his actions in Qatar, but admitted he was embarrassed by the incident.
In an interview with The Times, he said: “It was a combination of my love of Argentina and my excitement. I love Argentina, I’ve lived there. I went to support them. Many of [the team] have come to the restaurant. I didn’t feel a stranger. It was a special moment. I can’t do anything about the reason I was there, but I would never, ever step on the World Cup pitch again. There were two billion people watching the World Cup… how many people are speaking about me? Five billion. The whole world. I didn’t go on the pitch with the purpose of advertising, I just felt like it. Then it was a bit of a surprise. There were at least another 1,000 people on the pitch but when they show the video they make out it was just me. I never, ever wanted to overshadow anything. I didn’t like the attention. I didn’t kick anyone, steal anything.”
Salt Bae’s restaurant empire stretches across the globe, with his Nusr-Et chain in London once being the second most expensive place to eat in the world. But many have slammed the food for being “overpriced”, with punters being charged £1,000 gold-plated steaks and $99 (£78) milkshakes.
This included food critics at his recently closed burger chain dubbed the “worst restaurant in New York City”. Regardless, the food influencer has amassed a whopping 52.3million followers on his Instagram account – just over two million shy of Foden’s and Man City’s accounts together which add to 54.5m.
Source: thesun.co.uk
