Match of the Day’s Gary Lineker ‘plotted a transfer from his £1.4m BBC job to join rivals ITV… but they wouldn’t have him’

Gary Lineker planned to leave the BBC for its biggest rival, but it turned out that ITV had no interest.

According to the Ny Breaking, a representative for the Match of the Day presenter has made overtures to ITV over the past 18 months.

Sources have indicated that the talks were aimed at finding out whether they wanted the former England player as a sports presenter, given that his current contract with the Corporation expires next summer.

ITV’s approach suggests Lineker is prepared to leave the BBC, where he is the top earner on £1.35m a year and has presented Premier League highlights since 1999.

His agent, Jon Holmes, has dismissed the claims as “nonsense”, insisting ITV were keen to recruit Lineker “years ago” but the presenter turned him down.

Lineker, famous for his appearances in Walker’s Crisp adverts, is reportedly planning to leave the BBC for ITV

Gary Lineker’s agent has dismissed claims Lineker tried to broker a move to ITV – describing them as ‘nonsense’

Gary Lineker has taken on other presenting jobs outside of sport for ITV – he presented the quiz show Sitting on a Fortune before it was axed

Lineker has presented Match of the Day and other major football coverage for the BBC since 1999

Gary Lineker’s contract at the BBC expires next summer, and the presenter is said to be exploring his options

When asked about the claim that he had entered into separate discussions in the past 18 months, Mr Holmes referred to Lineker’s work at ITV outside of sport during that period, including presenting the game show Sitting on a Fortune between 2021 and July 2023, when that programme was axed.

But the Ny Breaking understands the matters are separate and that the approach was intended to secure a prominent position in ITV’s sports coverage.

The revelation comes during a turbulent period for the 63-year-old Lineker.

Last year he was suspended from the BBC for three days after posting on social media that the Conservative government’s language around its asylum policy was “not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 1930s”.

At the height of the dispute over impartiality, a number of Lineker’s colleagues, including Alan Shearer and Ian Wright, withdrew from a Match of the Day broadcast in solidarity.

Recently, BBC staff at Euro 2024 in Germany were reportedly unhappy with Lineker’s criticism of the England team during the tournament on his podcast The Rest is Football.

Lineker has since insisted his much-vaunted description of ‘s***’ was in reference to the quality of the group stage match against Denmark and not specifically to manager Gareth Southgate and his team.

Following Lineker’s comments, captain Harry Kane hit out at pundits and commentators for their assessments. He said: ‘I would never want to be disrespectful to a player, especially a player who has worn the shirt and knows what it’s like to play for England.

‘But what ex-players who are now analysts have to realise is that it’s very difficult not to listen to it now, especially for some of the players who are not used to it or for players who are new to this environment.

“I always feel like they have a responsibility. I know they have to be honest and give their opinion, but they also have a responsibility as a former England player.

“The bottom line is that we haven’t won anything as a country in a long time. A lot of these players have been in that game and they know how hard it is.”

ITV declined to comment.