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CRYSTAL PALACE co-owner John Textor was seen wearing a cowboy hat as he hit back at Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi following a bitter row.Leaked footage from a meeting of Ligue 1 owners revealed American Textor, who is the majority owner of Lyon, was called a “cowboy” by the PSG chief.Crystal Palace and Lyon owner John Textor was seen wearing a cowboy hat ahead of Lyon v PSGCredit: X / OLIt comes after PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi called him a cowboy during a TV rights meeting in JulyCredit: APA leaked video prompted Textor to take a sarcastic jibe at his rival presidentCredit: X / OLThe American is the chairman of Eagle Football HoldingsCredit: X / OLThe leaked video, shared by Complément d’enquête and L’Equipe, saw a video call on July 14, 2024 about the French domestic TV deal descend into a war of words between the two club presidents.The aim of the meeting was to resolve the French league’s long-running saga of TV rights for the next four years which had left football in the country in crisis mode.An auction process initially looking to bring in £863million ended up securing a deal worth far less with only two deals being proposed.The first was a £417m deal with DAZN and beIN Sports which would see DAZN show eight of the nine Ligue 1 fixtures each weekend with beIN show the remaining Saturday evening game.READ MORE IN FOOTBALLThe second was a far riskier idea to move the league to its own streaming service – a model Premier League bosses considered before signing a new record £6.7bn domestic television deal running for four years from the 2025/26 season.Emotions boiled over during the tense meeting as the two bosses disagreed over what deal the league should accept, with Textor, 59, being in favour of the streaming model.Textor accused Al-Khelaifi of being a “bully” and “tyrant”, while Lens president Joseph Oughourlian also accused the PSG chief – also the chairman of beIN Sports – of having a conflict of interest.Al-Khelaifi, 51, responded by saying: “John, stop talking, you don’t understand anything, you’re from… I don’t know, cowboy, you’re coming, I don’t know (from) where, and you’re talking to us.”Most read in FootballBEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERSWith the heated argument being publicly revealed this week, Textor chose to walk out at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais stadium ahead of the club’s clash with PSG on Sunday evening.Going into the game PSG were the league leaders with a 10-point gap to second place side Marseille, while Lyon sat in sixth place and five points off a Champions League qualification spot.Premier League stadium looks unrecognisable in incredible new plans to redevelop main stand Following a goalless first half, the deadlock was finally broken by Achraf Hakimi in the 53rd minute.PSG then showed their quality once again as Ousmane Dembele netted a stunning curling shot just before the hour mark.Rayan Cherki pulled one back for the hosts in the 83rd minute before Hakimi restored the two-goal lead two minutes later. Lyon found a second goal in injury time when Corentin Tolisso crashed home a header, but they were unable to find an equaliser, ensuring PSG moved 13 points clear at the top of the table.Textor is the chairman of Eagle Football Holdings, which owns a 45 per cent stake in Crystal Palace.However, Textor’s role at the Selhurst Park outfit is set to change in the coming months.It comes after Sportsbank, a group backed by individuals from Saudi Arabia and the United States, announced it had signed an exclusivity agreement to buy the 45 per cent stake for around £230m.Despite Textor looking to sell his stake in the club, he is reportedly still open to buying the majority of the club if the opportunity arose.READ MORE SUN STORIESTextor’s company also holds controlling shares in Brazilian club Botafogo and RWD Molenbeek in Belgium.The company failed with a bid to buy Everton last year, with The Friedkin Group led by fellow American billionaire Dan Friedkin completing a deal to buy a controlling 94.1 per cent stake in December 2024 worth in excess of £400m. More

ARNE SLOT may yet live to regret ignoring the blindingly obvious — that Darwin Nunez cannot be trusted.Some of the Kop may still see the Uruguayan as a sort of cult villain, Scouse irony making the fans hate him and love him at the same time.Liverpool had to settle for a point after Darwin Nunez’s shocking missCredit: PANunez somehow managed to blaze over in the 2-2 draw at Aston VillaCredit: GettyArne Slot might yet have cause for concern up frontCredit: ReutersBut his glaring, open-goal miss at Villa Park has somehow helped turn an eight-point lead at the top of the Prem into what feels like a crisis.And the days of forgiveness for Nunez will end in the stands if, once again, Liverpool blow their season.In fact, in Slot’s case, they already appear to be over.If the Liverpool manager is not questioning his own judgment over Nunez, he should be.READ MORE LIVERPOOL NEWSThe £64million striker was forever  missing barn doors under Slot’s predecessor, Jurgen Klopp — a bit like on Wednesday when he shot over in front of an open goal at 2-2.Nunez also failed one-on-one against Aston Villa keeper Emi Martinez with, as Slot has now suggested, his head gone.Yet a quick glance at the South American’s record should have told him  that, for all his mercurial  talents, there was no reliability factor and that Nunez’s head is often all over the place.Last season as Klopp’s quadruple bid fell apart, Nunez scored only once in the last 13 games, that run starting with a 4-3 loss at Manchester United that cost them an FA Cup semi-final place.Most read in FootballThe hitman averages less than a goal every five games this seasonThe Uruguayan could be giving Slot a headacheCredit: GettyHis only strike during that collapse was in a 3-1 win over doomed Sheffield United.The death knell to Klopp’s hopes of taking a second title away with him came in the 1-0 home defeat by Crystal Palace on April 14 that dropped the Reds down to third, and that was that.CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITSBy then there had also been a 3-0 home hammering by Atalanta that saw Europa League ambitions go west at the quarter-final stage.Klopp left in the end with only the Carabao Cup to show for his final campaign.Sky Sports presenter praised by fans after rarely-seen move in interview with Liverpool matchwinner Darwin NunezIt will not have been lost on him that as he bade his farewells at Anfield after the last–day 2–0 win over Wolves, Nunez was the only player in a guard of honour not to applaud him.After the shock Palace loss, one fan posted of Nunez on social media: “He’s not alone in this but he was at the scene of every crime with his big, vacant smile and chorus of approval from the Kop.“Are we collectively insane? Because at this point I have to say, Darwin, I’m done.”In the aftermath of Wednesday’s draw with Villa, an actual Kop cult hero in Robbie Fowler used similar language. The 183-goal  former Liverpool star said on talkSPORT: “He’s missed the target, criminally, from seven, eight yards. That can’t be happening.“It’s a bad miss. It’s a really bad miss. Probably up there with one of the worst we’ve seen this year.“People worry about Darwin Nunez . . . he doesn’t think about the game enough.”Maybe Slot was worried about Nunez when he took over from Klopp — but not enough to do anything about it.The wise thing to do would surely have been to sign another striker as the only recognised frontman in last summer’s squad was Diogo Jota.The signs were all there for Slot from the beginning and there was plenty of money in the kitty. But he backed Nunez anyway.And especially as the Portuguese has proven to be injury-prone.Slot’s only summer addition was the near-invisible £10m Federico Chiesa — and he could yet pay for not adding more firepower.Nunez posted a “resilience” message on social media yesterday, saying he will never give up as a Liverpool player. But that will not cut it with Slot. Not now.The attacker has scored only six times this season over 35 games, four in the Prem.Since his arrival from Benfica in 2022 he has made 131 appearances yet has a mere 24 league goals and 15 in other competitions.The signs were all there for Slot from the beginning and there was plenty of money in the kitty.But he backed Nunez anyway and their eight-point lead could be five if Arsenal beat West Ham tomorrow.Liverpool will have again played a game more after facing Manchester City on Sunday.Nunez failed to get the better of Emi Martinez and Co on WednesdayCredit: GettyAnother defeat would prove Slot’s machine is breaking down —  having already dropped points in the Merseyside derby and struggled through a 2-1 win over Wolves.There was also the ten–change FA Cup humiliation by Plymouth Argyle, with Nunez playing the last 32 minutes of that 1–0 defeat.The Kop boss reminded everybody as he looked ahead to the City clash that his side are now unbeaten in 22 Prem games.But he will not need reminding Liverpool have not won a league game at the Etihad since 2015.And Arsenal are due at Anfield on May 10.READ MORE SUN STORIESBy then the top of the table could look dramatically different.And what looks like blind faith in Nunez may have proved to be a bad case of short-sightedness on Slot’s part. 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