Premier League star Ravel Morrison secretly taped Sam Allardyce in furious bust-up over money and agents
Football ace Jermaine Pennant also tells how his father was once offered a house and a job to persuade him to sign for a top club in 1999
A PREMIER League star secretly taped shamed Sam Allardyce in a furious bust-up over money and agents, we can reveal today.
It comes as a group of top players named another Premier League legend in a group chat over the bungs scandal.
Allardyce was forced out of the England manager’s job last week when he was filmed giving advice on how to “get round” strict transfer rules.
He also faces damaging claims he dropped rising star Ravel Morrison from his West Ham team in 2013 because he refused to join his controversial agent Mark Curtis.
Allardyce has denied it but ex-Liverpool star Jermaine Pennant, a close pal of Morrison’s, claims the suspicious player got proof after requesting a pay rise.
He told The Sun on Sunday: “I heard Ravel went into Sam’s office and recorded Sam without him knowing so he could prove what was happening.
“Sam told him if he would sign with Mark Curtis then he would get him a good deal.
“Ravel was really unhappy at how he was treated.”
Morrison had been hailed by Allardyce as “brilliant” when he arrived at West Ham in 2013.
But fans were left bewildered when the exciting midfielder was mysteriously sent on loan to QPR and Cardiff City.
Morrison, now 23 and playing for Italian side Lazio, posted a cryptic tweet after Allardyce quit last week, saying: “No1 listened to a word I said.”
If the secret tapes were to become public Allardyce could face fresh problems.
He is already expected to be charged by the FA with bringing the game into disrepute.
Pennant went on: “You have to ask yourself, ‘Why did Sam want Ravel to sign with Mark?’ Mark seems to represent a lot of players who are with Sam.”
He also told how his father was once offered a house and a job to persuade him to sign for a Premier League club in 1999.
At the time Pennant was a 15-year-old schoolboy sensation with Notts County, then managed by Allardyce.
He said days later Curtis approached him and offered cash if he signed for Arsenal, where he went for £2million, then a record for a trainee.
Pennant, now 33, fears Allardyce also played a part in the deal.
He said: “I didn’t want to go. I wanted to stay in Nottingham where my friends were.
“But Sam is a powerful, scary man. He’s very vocal and even back then as a teenager I do remember thinking I don’t want to p*** him off.
“My dad was told that a big club were interested in me.
“He said he would get a house and a job if I went. But my dad didn’t like them and didn’t want me to go.
“Then a few days later the Arsenal offer came through. Mark came on the scene and he brokered a deal for me to go.
“He offered my dad £10,000 cash up front and another £10,000 later.
“Mark smoothed the deal with my dad and he was naïve in accepting the money.
“I was shocked at what Mark had done because my agent knew nothing about any of this.
“Mark is Sam’s agent, so Mark was unlikely to broker a deal without Sam’s knowledge.’’
Curtis later described the bung as a "loan" but he was charged by the FA.
He was fined £5,000 for paying £1,000 to Gary Pennant and £2,500 for trying to represent Jermaine when he already had an agent.
He was cleared of tempting him with two back-handers.
Pennant spent six years at Arsenal but hardly played due to disciplinary issues.
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the North London club.
He now plays for Singapore side Tampines Rovers and says: “I think things would have worked out better if I’d stayed at Notts County for another year as I was still very young.
“I got taken out of that comfort zone by Mark Curtis who was just seeing pound signs.”
Meanwhile several top players have set up a WhatsApp chat group to discuss the names of managers said to have been involved in the bungs scandal.
A former player, a Premier League legend and household name, was also named in the online discussion.
Pennant, who is part of the WhatsApp chat with several Premier League and Championship players, said: “None of us can believe it.
“We are all shocked. This is just so widespread in football because it’s all about money now.
“Sometimes I joke to my agent, ‘Should we try paying someone?’ Because I see lots of mediocre players going to good clubs and I’m not going anywhere and I think I’m still a decent player.
“There is obviously a lot of this going on, finding back routes to get players in and making extra money for themselves.
“Football is a tough business and people will do anything to get some extra money.”
It emerged yesterday that the City of London Police has brought in a top detective called “the Rottweiler”, DCI Dave Manley, to investigate controversial football deals.
Allardyce, 61, who flew off to Spain last week, was with Curtis when he was stung by undercover reporters over a £400,000 deal.
The pair have been entwined in controversy for years.
Former mobile phone salesman Curtis helped get Allardyce the Notts County manager’s job in 1997 before he moved to Bolton Wanderers in 1999.
It was there that a BBC Panorama probe alleged Allardyce’s son Craig accepted bungs for transfers while working for Curtis.
Allardyce denied having any knowledge of the payments and claimed to have instructed lawyers but so far no action has taken place.
Ten years ago Curtis was the subject of another probe involving alleged breaches of transfer rules at Luton.
A charge of allegedly dealing with unlicensed agents was dropped but Curtis and five others were given a warning. Pennant believes he will eventually get back into football.
He said: “It was crazy for Sam to jeopardise a contract of £3million a year just to get an extra £400,000.
“Sam has lost the biggest opportunity of his career because of his stupidity.
“This has opened a whole can of worms and I’m sure there is going to be a lot more to come. I’ve heard there are a lot of managers panicking. I think chairmen will start looking at how much power a manager has over transfers.
“But I’m sure Sam will bounce back. He will lie low for a while and then he will be back in the game.’’
Pennant is releasing his autobiography, My Crazy Football Life, later this year.
A source close to Curtis last night denied any wrongdoing.
KICK OUT 'CANCER'
FORMER cop Graham Bean was the FA’s first compliance officer from 1999-2003.
He said: “The FA have stuck their neck in the sand for too long.
They need ex-detectives who can’t have the wool pulled over their eyes, not accountants.”
Mr Bean, 55, right, added: “Sam Allardyce says entrapment has won. But proper investigating is how to catch bad guys.
"The FA should admit and deal with its shortcomings, then get the right people in to rid our game of this cancer for good.”