Featured Image Credit: Baller League
Topics: Daniel Sturridge, Premier League
Josh Lawless
Daniel Sturridge has given his take on the "masked" Baller League star who was purported to be an active Premier League player.
The second season of the six-a-side league put on by KSI kicked off on Monday night at the Copperbox Arena, with a number of new notable names signing up.
Former Premier League Stephen Ireland, Oumar Niasse, Martyn Waghorn, John Bostock, Ciaran Clark and Nile Ranger were among those to take to the pitch in the first matchday.
But going into the first game, new manager Niko Omilana, a YouTuber and social media influencer, caused a huge stir by claiming he had secured the services of a current Premier League player.
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The NDL manager said he would be "drafting an actual Premier League player" but that he could not reveal their identity as he would "get in a lot of trouble".
His side rocked up to their first game against N5 - managed by Arsenal legends Jens Lehmann and Robert Pires and Eman SV2 - with one player wearing a black mask to hide his face and also sporting football leggings.
He started on the bench for the 3-1 defeat and his only contribution was to come on and take an impressive free-kick forcing a fine save before being withdrawn.
Fans quickly began to speculate about who the player may be, with the name of West Ham midfielder James Ward-Prowse being thrown about.
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But Sturridge, who has signed up as co-manager alongside Micah Richards, was having none of it.
The former Liverpool and Chelsea striker joined fellow manager Angry Ginge on his stream after their respective games and weighed in with his brutal view on the masked footballer.
Speaking on the stream, Sturridge said: "Who's the masked player? They weren't a Premier League player. They've never been. Whoever you are portraying yourself to be, I just want to let you know - you are miles off it. Miles off the pace.
"A Premier League footballer came and lost in Baller League?"
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Sturridge's Deportrio side, which signed up Ireland and Niasse, for game one, lost 3-2 to Ian Wright and Alan Shearer's Wembley Rangers.
John Terry's 26ers are top of the league after matchday one, having beaten Ginge's Yanited and gained an extra point in the pressure point penalty challenge.