THIS is the moment Diego Maradona mocked Salt Bae’s sprinkling gimmick right in front of him.
The cringy throwback video has resurfaced after the celebrity chef was slammed for pestering Lionel Messi in an embarrassing display following Argentina’s World Cup win.
The Turkish cook and Instagram star – real name Nusret Gökçe – was filmed grabbing the Argentinian captain by the shoulder at least twice.
Messi tried to shrug him off before finally agreeing to pose for an awkward picture.
The fame-hungry chef was shot down by his own fans for his desperate attempts to get close to the footballing star.
Now footage has reemerged of Salt Bae being ridiculed by Argentinian legend Maradona at one of his restaurants in 2018.
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The clip shows the cook serving Maradona, who died in 2020, steak before the icon picks up a pinch of salt and does the chef’s trademark “sprinkle” while grinning.
It comes after Salt Bae shared an old video of him hugging Messi after being trolled over the footballer’s snub.
The Turkish cook and Instagram star – real name Nusret Gökçe – hit back with a new post to his 50million Instagram followers.
France ace Paul Pogba was also there and the chef made sure he got in between them for a photo.
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Gökçe’s throwback video shows him shaking Messi’s hand and giving him a bear hug, then talking animatedly while wagging his finger at the Barcelona forward.
His self-promoting video was captioned simply: “The champion”.
Followers said it was “cringe” and accused him of a desperate attempt to prove he is pals with Messi after getting the cold shoulder days earlier.
One said: “This is embarrassing.”
Another said: “He wanna prove that he wasn’t ghosted by Messi.”
As well as badgering Messi, he was filmed muscling in on the Argentina squad’s celebrations and snatching the trophy from one winner’s baby.
Gökçe also pretended to do his trademark salt-sprinkling trick over the £17million gold trophy as irritated players stood by.
And boastful pics on his Insta page showed his kissing the trophy and holding it aloft like a champion.
The disgraceful spectacle reportedly broke Fifa’s rules, which say only former winners and heads of state can handle it.
BBC host Gary Lineker shared footage of his attention-seeking antics, saying: “He’s such a pest.”
And former FA chairman Greg Dyke said: “I don’t think Fifa and Infantino have come out of this very well.”
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Fifa has reportedly refused to say if Salt Bae was granted access to the pitch.
It did not respond to The Sun Online’s request for comment.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
