Leeds United have had some deadly strikers over the years. But one of the Football League’s deadliest only spent a season at Elland Road, and he might have stayed.
Leeds United have some legendary attackers, both past and more recent too. The more recent ones are names like Luciano Becchio and Jermaine Beckford who both played together, whilst the prolific-yet-frustrating Joel Piroe – who could leave Leeds United this summer – is the man fronting Leeds’ attack right now.
In a previous interview, Becchio revealed how he was forced out of Leeds by the then owners and then manager Neil Warnock, admitting that he would’ve been happy to stay at the club for the entirety of his career.
And Becchio’s career was never the same after he left in 2013, going on to play for Norwich City among others, with a brief stint back in Yorkshire with Rotherham United.
As it goes, a well-known Yorkshire-born striker was also open to staying at Leeds United, and he could well have been as prolific as Becchio given more time: Billy Sharp.
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Billy Sharp would’ve stayed at Leeds United until Sheffield United called
Sharp, now 39, currently plays for Doncaster Rovers in League Two. Teammates with Leeds youngster Charlie Crew who joined Doncaster Rovers on loan in January, Sharp has scored seven goals in 37 League Two appearances so far this season, boasting an incredible 283 career goals to his name.
In the Championship, Sharp has 130 goals in 410 total appearances. But Sharp would score just five goals in 35 total appearances for Leeds, joining on a permanent deal in 2014 but leaving after just one season, returning to Sheffield United where he went on to prove prolific once more.
Speaking as a Blades player back in 2018, Sharp admitted that he would’ve been happy to stay at Leeds, but for Sheffield United calling. He said: “I enjoyed my time there [Leeds]. Short time. Didn’t go as planned but obviously that’s because Sheffield United was wanting me back.
“I would’ve stayed if it was any other club that wanted me, but I thought it was a great chance to get back and like I said, I had some good times there.”
How much did Leeds United pay for Billy Sharp?
Sharp had joined Leeds on a permanent deal from Southampton where he was struggling to break into the first-team, spending a lot of time out on loan.
Leeds were in the Championship and forked out £600,000 for Sharp, who had his moments in a Leeds shirt, though was often subjected to the bench and late substitute cameos in the Championship.
Memorably, he scored the winning goal against Middlesbrough on his debut and a late winner against Huddersfield Town later on in that 2014/15 season.
There’s no doubting his scoring ability, though there was never any doubting his allegiance to Sheffield United either.
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