BBC presenter Gary Lineker has been eyed up by ITV, amid the controversial row over his social media.
Last week, Leicester City and England legend Lineker became embroiled in a storm when he tweeted that a Conservative government policy towards refugees was "immeasurably cruel", calling into question the broadcaster's impartiality guidelines.
Lineker is the highest-paid earner on the Beeb and temporarily "stepped back" from presenting duties on beloved highlights package Match of the Day this weekend, as a result of the row over his use of his Twitter account – before his reinstatement to duties this morning by his employers.
Yet the Mail have claimed that rival broadcaster ITV have viewed the chaos over on Channel One as their "best chance" to ever snare the 62-year-old for their own – and that they were prepared to triple Lineker's pay in order to secure him.
In nearly three decades of fronting the BBC's sports coverage, Lineker has always resisted the temptation of moving to ITV – though this new row would have given the network a unique negotiating position.
Not only would ITV be able to offer him a salary that he would not have to disclose – Lineker currently has to disclose his pay, given that it is paid for by the license fee – ITV have no impartiality rules, meaning that he could be free to tweet whatever he liked, free of stipulation.
On Saturday, Lineker’s son, George, hinted on social media that his father may be ready to quit the BBC on social media, retweeting a post by Spencer Morgan, the son of former Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan. "Just like Dad, Lineker refused to be forced into apologising for having his own opinion," Morgan wrote, adding, "I know how this story ends… in an enormous salary increase".
ITV's current football line-up is anchored by Mark Pougatch, who also came from the BBC to work on the network. Lineker previously had an exclusivity deal with the Beeb, which he negotiated in order to present BT Sport's Champions League coverage.
Over the weekend, SportsLens claimed that the former forward was Evens to become the next presenter of ITV behemoth quiz format Who Wants to be a Millionaire, following Jeremy Clarkson's sacking.
