Leeds Today

Reid: the four who got away

EXCLUSIVE
By PAUL DEWS
CASH-CRISIS club Leeds United came within a whisker of four high-profile summer signings, the YEP can today reveal.
United had all but agreed deals with four seasoned Premiership players – only to see them collapse at the 11th hour because of a lack of funding.
Former boss Peter Reid today admitted that advanced talks had taken place with Patrik Berger, Henning Berg, Markus Babbel and Paolo di Canio and they were all on the verge of bolstering the United squad.
The ex-Elland Road chief was hoping to fund the deals with a portion of the money raised from the sale of Harry Kewell and the wages saved from his
decision to loan Danny Mills to Middlesbrough.
But the Kewell transfer took longer than expected to complete and the financial problems which threaten the club's existence were starting to bite.
Reid, who is currently on a UEFA pro licensing refresher course, has been heavily criticised for his moves in the loan market, but the former United boss says he only took the gamble after missing the boat.
Reid said: "I was hoping to bring in new players during the summer. I had talks with quite a few who were all available on free transfers and was hopeful that we could do something. In the end, we had to go for the loan players because time was against us and we couldn't push the other deals through."
The four players are now plying their trade elsewhere.
Berger is Portsmouth's second leading goalscorer with five, while di Canio is impressing at Charlton.
Berg has been an ever-present with Rangers while German international Babbel joined Blackburn from Liverpool.
Reid has seen United just once since parting company with the club, watching the 1-1 draw at Manchester City in December.
However, the former Sunderland boss says he is still rooting for his old club to stay in the Premiership.
"I'm just hoping that Leeds can stay up," said Reid. "The fans are different class at Leeds. I will always remember them for their support and they deserve a Premiership football club."

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