I told Terry Venables to sell Diego Maradona at Barcelona and this is what he said

Terry Venables was told to sell Diego Maradona by Barry Silkman, the football agent has revealed.

The legendary manager inherited the World Cup winner when he took over as Barcelona boss in 1984.

Maradona had been at the club for two years, during which time he scored 38 goals in 58 appearances.

The Argentina international had also won three trophies with Barca whilst in Spain.

However, Venables was unconvinced by his ability and age, despite Maradona still only being 24 years old.

As a result, he approached Silkman, who played under him at QPR, for a solution to his selection dilemma.

The former midfielder recalled their conversation, telling talkSPORT: "He phoned me. He was only there a little while. He phoned me, he went, ‘Silk, got a problem’. So I said, what?

"He said, ‘I've got a player here. I don't want him here.’ So he said, ‘Maradona.’ So I said, ‘why?’

"He said, ‘legs are gone.’ He said, ‘he's gone a yard slower on his brain and a yard slower on his legs. And the problem I've got, the players just want to keep giving him the ball. So everything is going through him.

"‘And the way I want to play, it's not going to work.’ He said, ‘I've got a player here called Bernd Schuster. Do you know him?’ I said, ‘yeah, the blond German player, midfield.’ He said, ‘I need everything to go through him. How do I get rid of Maradona?’ So we just get rid of him.

"He said, ‘I can't. President loves him. Supporters love him.’ I said, ‘TV, remember the conversations we've had, that when you take over as a manager, it is the only time you're really powerful.’

"People think when you win the league, you're powerful, but you're not, because the best managers in the world want your job. So when you first walk into that job, it's the only time you're powerful.

"I said, ‘just go to the president and tell him you don't want him.’ He went, ‘do you think it'll work?’

"I went, I've got no idea. I said, ‘just tell him and tell him the reasons.’ Phoned me back a couple of weeks later. He went, ‘Silk, he's gone.’

"And he went on to win the league and Bernd Schuster was unbelievable."

Schuster had signed for Barca in 1980 and went on to spend eight years at the Camp Nou.

By the time he left for Real Madrid in 1988, the German had made 241 appearances as well as winning eight trophies.

As for Maradona, he was sold to Napoli during Venables' first summer in Barcelona.

Meanwhile, his side went on to win the league title in his first season in charge.

Venables would remain at the helm until 1987 before returning to England for a spell as Tottenham manager.