Mighty Leeds Weblog

The former West Ham United defender would make the £18million move to Leeds to become one of the most expensive defenders of his time Former Leeds United defender Rio Ferdinand has lifted the lid on his record breaking move to Elland Road. He was one of the hottest prospects in English football and has since enjoyed an illustrious career. However, the former Whites defender claims he didn't want to leave the Hammers, but it be the best decision of his career. Ferdinand claims to have turned down a move to Chelsea, who were offering the match Leeds' offer, but a phonecall with David O'Leary saw him sign on the dotted line. Speaking to the Joe Cole Cast, Ferdinand said: "Leeds were a team that were hoovering up all the best young players. They had a really exciting squad that were on the cusp of some success it seemed - who could challenge a Man United at the time, playing Champions League Football. "Do you know what, I didn't want to leave West Ham but ...

The centre-back was part of the Leeds side which reached the Champions League semi-final in 2001 Rio Ferdinand drew the ire of Leeds United fans in the summer of 2002 as he joined the club's fierce rivals Manchester United, soon after playing for the Whites in a Champions League semi-final. Leeds had bought the centre-back for a British record £18million during the first half of the previous season, but he departed for another record fee of £30million, following the 2002 World Cup. Ferdinand, who had been captain of the Whites during his period at the club, has revealed how he found out about Manchester United's interest and how he forced through a move to the Red Devils in an interview with The Home of Football podcast. He said: "I was in the World Cup and some of my teammates were Manchester United players like Becks (David Beckham), Nicky Butt, Scholesy, Neville, we were eating lunch, breakfast and they were asking me ‘would you come to Man United?’ so when I’m he...

Michael Walker and John Cassy, The Guardian The scale of the financial implications of Leeds United's underachievement this season became clear yesterday when the chairman Peter Ridsdale announced that they had lost almost £14m in this financial year and that they would have to sell £30m-worth of players this summer in order to reduce their debt by £15m to £20m. Leeds are believed to have received a bid of £30m for Rio Ferdinand alone but would not countenance selling their captain, so the mooted sale of Mark Viduka to Roma should account for half the £30m. Internazionale and Juventus have offered a similar sum for Olivier Dacourt but his season has been affected by injury and the likelihood of him not making France's World Cup squad will affect his value. Despite all the speculation surrounding Harry Kewell, Leeds have not received one bid for the Australian. The ease or difficulty of reaching the £30m figure then depends to a degree on how Leeds finish this season. Were...