Former Newcastle United chief Tony Jimenez says Kevin Keegan believed Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge would struggle as a League One player.

Keegan claimed via his book, with extracts published in the paper last week, that during Jimenez's nine-month spell at Newcastle he rejected the chance to sign Luka Modric but now the businessman has hit back to dispute the claim and raise questions about Keegan's judgement instead.

“The minute you questioned him he lost the plot," Jimenez told The Times.

“During that window we offered him the players that we were working on when we thought Harry Redknapp was coming as manager — Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch, Lassana Diarra — and he said none of them were good enough.

"The other player we were really keen on was Daniel Sturridge. He said he'd had him as a kid at Man City and that he wasn't good enough for League One."

He added: "He also went mad when we gave a new contract to Carroll, whom he said would never make it as a professional. He said £300,000 was a fantastic price. We couldn't trust his judgment."