Former England midfielder says he really wanted to sign for Leeds after £5m bid was accepted

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Leeds United will be looking to make themselves one of the most attractive clubs in England again under the 49ers.

The Whites are right in the mix for automatic promotion back to the Premier League in what would be the first significant step towards the new ownership’s ambitions at Elland Road.

Prior to their full takeover in the summer, Leeds spent three years in the Premier League. However, under former owner Andrea Radrizzani, the club just could not compete financially, despite his aspirations of taking the club back into Europe, just like in the era of the early 2000s.

Unfortunately during that era, though, Leeds spent way beyond their means and so success was short lived. At the time, players were not to know what was about to happen and Elland Road was an attractive proposition.

Now, speaking on the latest episode of That Peter Crouch Podcast, Jermaine Jenas has opened up on how he really wanted to make the move to Leeds back in 2002 after an offer of £5 million was accepted by Nottingham Forest.

Former England international Jenas claims he had been keen to join Leeds over both Newcastle and Manchester United, who had also seen bids accepted, but was told not to by Paul Hart, as he knew the club was about to ‘fall apart’.

Jenas opens up on failed Leeds switch

He said: “He [Paul Hart] went we have had three offers on the table. Sir Alex Ferguson has rang and he’s basically said we’ve bid £3 million and not a penny more because it’s an honour to play for the football club. David O’Leary has rang from Leeds, they have bid £5 million and Newcastle have bid £5 million and the car is going to be here in an hour.

“So I’m in the car from Nottingham to Newcastle and I’m saying to my agent that I want to go to Leeds and I knew Rio [Ferdinand] as I’d bump into him a couple of times out, as you could imagine!
Rio was there, Fowler was there, the Champions League stuff was just kicking off at the time.

“And Paul Hart’s son was my agent, and Paul was at Leeds previously, and said you are not going to Leeds. He said it’s going to fall apart, you’re not going. United was the only one I said no to straight away because I wanted to play. I looked at their midfield and they had Veron, Scholes, Giggs, Roy Keane and Becks.”

At the time Leeds saw an offer accepted for Jenas, it must’ve been just as the club was about to collapse, with his move to Newcastle going through in February 2022.

Leeds were not relegated until over two years later in 2003/04, but it is fair to say the 2002/03 season was the beginning of a significant downfall and clearly Hart knew what was about to happen, having been at the club.

Some former Leeds players from that era have recently spoken about what a financial mess the club was behind-the-scenes, including Aaron Lennon, who had to be sold for just £1 million in 2005.

Rio Ferdinand has also opened up on some of the ridiculous contracts on offer at the time by Leeds, and hopefully in the 49ers’ efforts to get Leeds back to the top, they are able to live within their means.