Rio Ferdinand once recalled some of the crazy wages that were being offered to players during his time at Leeds United.
Ferdinand spent just under 18 months at Elland Road having arrived from West Ham United in an £18 million deal, which at the time was a British transfer record, and also saw him become the world’s most expensive defender.
With Leeds in serious financial trouble, Ferdinand then moved to bitter rivals Manchester United for around £30 million, which again broke the transfer record.
Reflecting on the trouble Leeds found themselves in at the time, Ferdinand shared on his Vibe with Five Podcast how some of the contract offers left him absolutely baffled.
He said: “There was some crazy contracts going on at that time. I was like what is going on here? How are you giving me that type of money? Seth Johnson is a mad story, he was expecting £12 grand a week and ended up getting 40’s or something.”
Leeds were the subject of major financial mismanagement
To hear that Seth Johnson – a fairly average player at the time – was offered a contract over three times what he was expecting, just shows the scale of Leeds’ financial mismanagement.
On the same podcast, Aaron Lennon has shared how he was on ‘crazy money’ after breaking into the first team, which meant Leeds were unable to play him in case he met some of the huge bonuses in his deal.
Leeds went on to pay for those mistakes for a number of years after that, even dropping into the depths of League One and being deducted 15 points.
Thankfully Leeds are no longer in such a predicament these days, with the club now being back in the Premier League under the ownership of 49ers Enterprises.
49ers Enterprises took full ownership of the club in July 2023, replacing long-term owner Andrea Radrizzani in the process.
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