Former Barcelona and Netherlands winger Ibrahim Afellay has reacted to being dissed by his former teammate and ex-Liverpool man Ryan Babel.
The 35 year old, who also enjoyed a spell in the Premier League with Stoke City, is the surprise subject of Babel's latest song 'Open Letter'.
"Bro, I don't know you from Barca," opens the diss. "Maybe more from PSV? Oh now you're an analyst? Hmm, so, so.
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Heard in the corridors you're broke, bro. You call things and don't think about them anymore bro code. But I understand if your career comes to a dead end."
When asked about Babel's verses, Affelay was stunned to say the least.
"I'm honestly surprised by it," he said, as quoted by GOAL. "I've only known him from the Dutch national team and he was always really nice there. I don't have anything bad to say about him really."
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Babel's rap also touches upon his experiences with former managers and his thoughts about key problems in football today.
"Before releasing his long-awaited debut album, Ryan Babel has some thoughts to share with the world," reads the music video's description. "In his new single and clip 'Open Letter' he reflects on the beginning of his career as a professional football player and how things are going now.
"Just like a football match, 'Open Letter' consists of two halves. Mentioning his entrepreneurial mindset, how he started his own music label in 2009, and his experiences with trainers Ronald Koeman, Louis van Gaal, Danny Blind, Winston Bogarde and Rafael Benítez.
"A beat switch by producer LJ brings us back to 2021. In the second half of the song Ryan discusses racism in the football industry, the reactions to the recent EURO 2020 final and his opinion about certain football analysts on television.
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"The accompanying music video makes sure there's no mistake about who his bars are directed to."
Affelay, who made over 50 appearances for his country between 2007 and 2016, hung up his boots last year after returning to his first club, Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven.
Meanwhile, Babel continues to play top-flight football for Turkish side Galatasaray, where he has been since 2019.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Netherlands