Andrea Radrizzani sends message to Liam Cooper after player’s Leeds United exit finally confirmed

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Liam Cooper finally confirmed his exit from Leeds United on Wednesday afternoon after 10 years at the club and Andrea Radrizzani has posted a touching message to the defender.

The defender, who turned 33 on deadline day, has been without a club since his contract at Elland Road expired on June 30. It has ended a 10-year stint at Leeds in which Cooper clocked up a huge 284 games.

Captain for the majority of that decade, he initially joined Leeds in Massimo Cellino’s first season at the club. A summer in which Cellino hired Dave Hockaday as manager and made a whopping 14 signings.

It was a summer that saw the likes of Gaetano Berardi, Mirco Antenucci and Cooper arrive at Elland Road. But of course, Cooper has outstayed all other 13 signings and became a Leeds legend in the process.

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Radrizzani sends touching message to Cooper on social media

Highlights of Cooper’s time at Leeds include 11 goals scored, captaining Leeds throughout Marcelo Bielsa’s tenure and the skipper to take Leeds into the Premier League after 16 years out of the top tier.

The 19-time Scotland star has agreed a two-year deal with Bulgarian giants CSKA Sofia, who have made a terrible start to the 2024-25 season, losing five of their opening six games and sitting in the bottom two.

Cooper and Leeds confirmed that the defender had left, more than two months after his contract had expired. Former Leeds owner Radrizzani sent a touching message, replying to a post from the defender.

Radrizzani said: “Thank you Captain. Over the years you grew into a real leader and a role model.”

What Pablo Hernandez and Simon Grayson said as Cooper leaves

Plenty of players have responded to Cooper’s exit from Leeds and among those was Pablo Hernandez. The Leeds legend, up there with the best players of Cooper’s time at Leeds, described him as a “legend”.

Simon Grayson told Cooper that he should be proud of himself for the way he has conducted himself, the true meaning of ‘side before self’. Cooper’s debut could come on Monday night against Lokomotiv Sofia.

But he leaves a Leeds legend and some would say, perhaps even wrongly. Leeds are light in the middle of the defence with Max Wober even linked with a late move to Turkish side Galatasaray.