Aaron Lennon has admitted he never wanted to leave Leeds United in the summer of 2005 when he joined Tottenham Hotspur, but says the club were forced to do so because of administration.
Lennon, now retired at 36, came through the Leeds academy at just 16 – making his debut more than 20 years ago in August 2003. A 2-1 loss to Spurs, the club he joined two years later, for a nominal figure.
The speedy winger went on to play 43 times for Leeds before his move to Spurs. But it was his time at Tottenham that saw him produce the best form of his career – playing a massive 362 games for the club.
In that time at Spurs, he even won 21 caps for England – before spells with Everton, Burnley and even Turkish side Kayserispor. Lennon has also been open about issues off the pitch, dealing with depression.
This week. he spoke to Rio Ferdinand’s FIVE channel on YouTube – where he was asked if he wanted to leave Elland Road in 2005, at just 18. He said he didn’t want to go, but had to leave due to a lack of cash.
“Would you have loved to have stayed at Leeds?” Lennon was asked. He said: “Yeah, at the time I was devastated, I said ‘nah I’m staying,’ but it came to it and the club was in administration. They had to sell.”
Aaron Lennon says he never wanted to leave Leeds United
A real shame, because Lennon was a player with enormous potential and at Tottenham, he went on to turn that promise into proven quality. He enjoyed a wonderful career at Spurs. Sad, that it wasn’t Leeds.
But that was the way it was at that time. Paul Robinson, Alan Smith, Mark Viduka and plenty of others had to go to save the club – even if their choice of club wasn’t the best. Spurs was a good move for him.
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