Cooper's honour at joining United - Liam Cooper on his move to Elland Road
leedsunited.com 15/8/14New United signing Liam Cooper has spoken of his relief at joining the club following a lengthy negotiation process.
Chesterfield rejected a number of bids for the central defender but United finally got the deal over the line on Wednesday evening.
“It’s brilliant to be here,” said United’s newest arrival. “This move has been going on for a couple of weeks now so I’m relieved to get it signed.
“There were bids rejected during the process but I always wanted to come here.
“This is a massive club and probably one of the biggest in the country in my eyes. It is an honour to play for the club.
“I’m a Yorkshire lad and Leeds is one of the biggest clubs in Yorkshire and in England.
“I’m buzzing to come here and I can’t wait to get going. I had a good training session on Thursday and I’m looking forward to a big game on Saturday.”
Liam started his career at Hull City but a move to Chesterfield kicked started his career, and following winning promotion last season the defender feels he is ready to make the step up.
“I started out as a young boy at Hull and I came through the system there,” said Liam. “I played a handful of games there but when Steve Bruce came in my time was up.
“Paul Cook gave me a chance at Chesterfield and we had two great seasons. That is out of the way now and I’ve got a bigger task on my hands now to prove myself at Championship level.
“I have played a handful of games at Championship level but never 10, 20 or 30 games.
“I’m still to prove myself but it is a task I’m going to stand up to. I believe in my ability.”
Liam trained for the first time with his new teammates on Thursday and says that he is going to have to work hard to gain a starting place.
“They are a great bunch of lads and they have made me feel very welcome,” he said. “Training was very good and I enjoyed it.
“There are some great players here that can play football and that suits me down to the ground.
“You don’t take anything for granted. I have got to earn my way into this team and hopefully I’ll be able to do that.
“In this league you have got to look at every game as a big game. There are no easy games in this league and you have got to give it your all and if you don’t you will come up short.”