How CSKA Sofia have announced the signing of Liam Cooper following his Leeds United exit

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Leeds United confirmed the exit of Liam Cooper on Wednesday, more than two months after his deal expired at Elland Road and he has completed a move to Bulgarian giants CSKA Sofia.

Cooper, who turned 33 last month, managed less than 20 appearances for Leeds last season as Daniel Farke preferred the likes of Joe Rodon, Pascal Struijk and Ethan Ampadu in the middle of his defence.

His exit saw his 10-year stint at Leeds come to an end in the summer. Cooper leaves Leeds as a legend, the man who captained Leeds to promotion and ending a 16-year stint outside of the Premier League.

In that time, he clocked up 284 appearances for Leeds having joined the club in Massimo Cellino’s first year as Leeds owner. A summer in which Leeds clocked up 14 signings, along with Gaetano Berardi.

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The brilliant way CSKA Sofia announced Cooper’s arrival

CSKA Sofia have moved to hand Cooper a two-year deal, taking him to almost 35 in Bulgaria. The giant European outfit have opted to sign the former Leeds man after a woeful start to their domestic season.

The Bulgarian side have lost five of their opening six league matches having finished in a solid third place last season. On Instagram, CSKA Sofia announced the signing of free agent Cooper with a brilliant video.

Using his name and a typical American car-like voice over, CSKA Sofia posted a video of Scotland player Cooper getting out of a Mini Cooper and saying words such as “legendary, aggressive and iconic”.

The caption read: “Liam Cooper is one of us. We are switching gears.”

Cooper had opportunities to remain in the Championship

Indeed, there were even rumours that Cooper was training with Derby County. The side that became rivals of Leeds after the Spygate scandal, Frank Lampard as manager and losing to Derby in the 18-19 play-offs.

Cooper held talks with Blackburn but could not agree on the length of a contract. Cooper wanted a two-year deal while John Eustace’s side only wanted to offer the left-footed centre-back a one-year contract.

Watford also showed interest in Cooper with Tom Cleverley’s Hornets making an impressive start to the Championship campaign. But, he has ended up in Bulgaria and goes with the wishes of all Leeds fans.