Joey Barton Targets, Offends PSG's Thiago Silva in Latest Twitter Rant

Joey Barton is up to his well-worn antics again, and this time Paris Saint-Germain and Thiago Silva are slightly less than amused.

They shouldn't be surprised, though, and as just about any fan of the English Premier League could tell them, it's not going to stop anytime soon.

Barton, Olympique Marseille's 30-year-old English brawler, former Manchester City, Newcastle United and QPR midfielder and distinguished master of the Twitter rant, this week made PSG defender Silva the latest target of his online venom.

Responding to some comments made by Silva ahead of Tuesday's PSG-Barcelona Champions League match, Barton unloaded on Silva. One tweet likened Silva, a Brazilian defender whom Barton claimed is "over rated," to a part of the female anatomy (NSFW language).

Here's what Silva originally said to L'Equipe (via Daily Telegraph ):

"

There is a Marseille player, I cannot remember his name, an Englishman, who has said bad things about Neymar and Brazilian football, and also about (David) Beckham and (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic.

Because no one is talking about him, it seems it is fun for him to criticise great players for people to know he exists.

"

Youch. That's an Ashton Kutcher-level burn. Later, as part of his brilliant response, Barton questioned Silva's sexuality in a pair of tweets. They appear below.

"

2 questions for Thiago Silva. Firstly, Why are YOU talking about ME, in your press conference before PSG v Barca? Very strange.

— Joseph Barton (@Joey7Barton) April 3, 2013"

…

"

Secondly, Are you Pre-Op or Post-Op?#transsexual #thiagosaladyboy

— Joseph Barton (@Joey7Barton) April 3, 2013"

Not surprisingly, the tweets went over poorly with Silva and PSG. The French leaders have threatened to sue Barton and naturally, have released a statement full of outrage (via Yahoo! Eurosport).

"These attacks are serious and go beyond mere verbal jousting," the statement said. "The directors of the club, the players and the coaching staff are supportive of Thiago Silva and cannot accept such statements."

Marseille, for their part, have apologized and instructed Barton to cut it out (per The Guardian), but as just about any football fan from across the Channel already knows, they would have better odds trying to convince Americans their president isn't the anti-Christ.

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