Chris Wood left Leeds United in 2017 to join Burnley in controversial circumstances in the early days of Andrea Radrizzani’s time at the club.
They say you should never go back in football. However, Leeds United appear to be considering going against this advice amid reports they could launch a move to bring Chris Wood back to the club.
Much could depend on the future of Ange Postecoglou at Wood’s current club. If Forest elect to bring Sean Dyche in to replace the Australian, this could damage Leeds’ hopes of signing their former striker.
Dyche was the man who paid a then club record transfer fee of £15 million to take Wood to Burnley from Elland Road after he had helped fire Leeds into play-off contention in the 2016/17 season.
With Wood linked with a return to Elland Road in January, here is what he said about Andrea Radrizzani after he left Leeds eight years ago.
What Chris Wood said after leaving Leeds United
Wood was one of Leeds’ standout players as they narrowly missed out on the Championship play-offs in the 2016/17 season under Garry Monk, scoring 27 goals in 44 appearances for the Whites.
Radrizzani had taken sole ownership of the club ahead of the 2017/18 season, ending the Massimo Cellino era at Elland Road, and one of his first challenges was to attempt to persuade Wood to stay at Leeds.
Wood’s transfer saga came to a head as Leeds prepared to face Sunderland. Wood was left out of the Leeds side and forced to remain in the team hotel until the game had kicked off to avoid causing an unnecessary distraction.
Speaking to the Independent shortly after he completed his move to Burnley, Wood denied that he had refused to play, stating: “everybody thinks that I refused to play. But it was out of my hands.
“The bid went in at 3 pm on the Friday and got accepted at 5 pm on the Friday. It was completely out of my hands whether I played or not. Burnley took that out of the equation.”
Wood was full of praise for how Radrizzani handled the situation, however, adding: “Throughout this whole process, Andrea was fantastic, he always said we can come up with a deal if that is what you would like to do, and it is the best opportunity for you.
Before concluding: “If you want to make that move to the Premier League, we will come to sort of arrangement.”
- READ MORE: Andrea Radrizzani says if he thinks sacking Leeds United icon Marcelo Bielsa was the right decision
Stuart Dallas inspires Leeds win without Chris Wood
With all of the pre-match talk centred around Wood’s impending departure, Leeds quietly showed some of the promise which would eventually turn into promotion under Marcelo Bielsa.
Leeds secured a 2-0 win and had Liam Cooper to thank for keeping them in the game as he headed an early Sunderland effort onto the bar to safety.
Goals from Samu Saiz and future Bielsa stalwart Stuart Dallas handed Leeds a victory, with new signing Ezgjan Alioski playing a key role in Dallas’ goal.
Leeds slumped to a mid-table finish under Thomas Christiansen and subsequently Paul Heckingbottom, but the win over Sunderland showed that momentum was starting to build at the club.
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