Sky 3/1/07
Wise pounces for Sa
By James Pearson
Leeds United's rebuilding plans are set to continue with the impending arrival of Portuguese international defender Armando Sa.
Dennis Wise has been a busy manager since the opening of the transfer window after bringing in Robbie Elliott and securing Matt Heath for the remainder of the season.
As revealed by skysports.com last month, Sa will now join Leeds from Liga outfit Espanyol subject to international clearance.
The 32-year-old stopper, who has been capped 16 times by his country, has a wealth of experience to his name after playing for the likes of Benfica and Villarreal.
In addition, Wise has moved to inform Portuguese defender Rui Marques that he still has a future at the club.
The Angola international has spent over a year in the wilderness but made a surprise comeback against Coventry on New Year's Day and impressed Wise.
He told the club's official website: "I was pleased with Rui because we had a long chat about himself and he couldn't work out why he had been brought to this club.
"He was down in the dumps - I didn't sign him but I said you've got a chance. Some players find it difficult and full credit to him. He's not played for a year-and-a-half.
"I hope Rui is buzzing. He did very well and he went to right-back because we had a problem and he did well there."


Yorkshire Post 3/1/07
We will back Wise all we can – Harvey
Leeds reveal buying back Elland Road remains priority as they prepare to fund transfer window recruitment
Exclusive
Richard Sutcliffe
DENNIS WISE will be given every possible backing in this month's transfer window as Leeds United look to stave off the threat of relegation.Chief executive Shaun Harvey has made the pledge to supporters and also confirmed to the Yorkshire Post that buying back Elland Road is very much on the club's agenda.United are in a perilous position, second bottom in the Championship with 19 games remaining, and it seems certain January will be pivotal in deciding their fate.It is, of course, the only month in which manager Wise will be able to make permanent transfers, his recruitment getting under way yesterday when Matt Heath and Robbie Elliott agreed to join until the end of the season.As revealed in yesterday's Yorkshire Post, Tore Andre Flo has also been in talks with Leeds, while Sheffield United duo Paul Ifill and Steven Kabba have been watched.Oldham winger Chris Taylor is another who, according to sources at Boundary Park, is interesting Leeds and they are tracking Luton midfielder Dean Morgan, the 23-year-old who has netted four goals in 23 appearances this term.Harvey will not reveal how much Wise has to spend for fear of alerting rival clubs, but has stressed: "The key message to supporters is we are going to give Dennis every bit of support that we can."We appreciate it is performances on the pitch that make the difference. We can run as successful a business off the pitch as we want, but we are all judged by what happens with the team."Wise angrily dismissed a national newspaper report last week that claimed he had a transfer budget of around £4m, the compensation Chelsea are believed to have paid United for youngsters Tom Taiwo and Michael Woods.The Yorkshire Post can reveal, however, that much of this cash has already been swallowed up by servicing old debts and current running costs, United having this season lost the £6m parachute payment for clubs relegated from the Premiership.On Wise's transfer budget, Harvey said: "Every manager wants to buy every single player that is available. But Dennis is very realistic, he knows the current situation at Leeds United."He has great trust in the chairman and, ultimately, he knows we will give him every support we humanly can. Whether that is a lot or a little bit, we can only give him what we have got."Former captain Paul Butler, who has been on loan at MK Dons, has already left after having his contract terminated by mutual consent.Loanees Geoff Horsfield and Tony Warner have returned to Sheffield United and Fulham respectively, while speculation continues to surround the future of Premiership targets David Healy and Matthew Kilgallon.Along with Championship survival, Harvey has revealed that buying back Elland Road is also at the top of the club's wish list.The stadium was sold to Manchester businessman Jacob Adler in November, 2004, for around £8.5m as the reality of life outside the Premiership started to bite.Former chairman Gerald Krasner secured a 25-year lease, with an option of being able to rent the stadium for an additional quarter of a century, and also negotiated a buy-back provision for Leeds.Elland Road was sold on to Teak Trading Corporation, a company based in the British Virgin Islands, in 2005, but United's lease and buy-back clause was unaffected.Harvey said: "The one thing we would like to achieve off the field is getting the stadium back into the ownership of the club."Apart from strengthening the club's balance sheet, what it will do is remove any scepticism and pessimism that there is about any ulterior motive."There is not a timescale; the option runs as long as the lease does. It is only the sum of money it will cost to re-buy it that changes."It is a fixed price that is a multiple of the rent. So, we can work out what it will cost on any one day. "The reality is that the price to buy back Elland Road will not increase again until October."But it is much like owning a house. I would much rather be paying a mortgage or some similar form of finance that would see the club own the stadium at the end, rather than paying rent."
richard.sutcliffe@ypn.co.uk


BBC 2/1/07
Leeds release Horsfield & Butler
Leeds have terminated the loan deal of striker Geoff Horsfield.
The 33-year-old, who has scored twice in 15 appearances, was scheduled to stay until the end of January but will return to Sheffield United early.
Horsfield does not figure in manager Dennis Wise's plans and neither does former skipper Paul Butler who has been released after a loan spell at MK Dons.
Middlesbrough defender Ugo Ehiogu and Fulham keeper Tony Warner have returned to their parent clubs after loan deals.
Ehiogu made six appearances for Leeds, while Warner, who returns to London as cover for the injured Antti Niemi, turned out 14 times for United.
Butler calls time on his career at Leeds having signed for the club in the summer of 2004. The 34-year-old, who was one of former manager Kevin Blackwell's first signings and made 106 appearances for the club, is free to join another club on a permanent basis.

Sky 2/1/07
Leeds to sign defensive duo
By Carla Hilton
Leeds United are set to make a double signing with defenders Matt Heath and Robbie Elliott both set to sign short-term contracts until the end of the season.
Heath, who has been on loan with the Yorkshire club since November, is joining on a free transfer from Championship rivals Coventry City, whilst Elliott is joining from Sunderland.
Elliott, who was previously on a short-term deal with Sunderland, was registered as a loan player in order to make his appearance against Coventry on New Year's Day but is set to sign a new deal to keep him at the club until May.
Heath, who had to sit out the game against Coventry under the terms of his loan, joined The Sky Blues from Leicester in the summer of 2005 and made eight of his 35 appearances for the club this season prior to his loan spell at Leeds. The pair are expected to strengthen The Whites' defence in their bid for Championship survival.

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