‘I loved it’… Attacker Leeds United sold for just £1m says he wanted Elland Road stay despite relegation

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Both of Leeds United’s relegations from the Premier League have brought a mass exodus of players.

Back in 2004, Leeds’ financial collapse saw the sales of key players such as Alan Smith, Mark Viduka and Paul Robinson, all of which for fees perhaps lower than market value.

Then, last summer, Leeds lost numerous members of the first team squad on loan due to clauses inserted into their contracts by the previous ownership. That said, they are in a far better position financially now, than back then.

Having been beaten by Watford in the play-off final to seal an immediate promotion to the Premier League, Leeds were still paying for their financial mishaps. This ultimately led to relegation to League One just two years later, and administration.

One gutting sale from the second summer after relegation in 2004 was Aaron Lennon. Lennon had progressed through Leeds’ academy and was in the first team as just a teenager, but was sold to Tottenham for just £1 million.

Lennon never wanted Leeds exit

Speaking on the latest episode of the Off the Shelf Podcast, Lennon has revealed that he never actually wanted to leave Leeds for Spurs but was forced to due to the money being ‘that bad’ at Elland Road.

He said: “Honestly a tough tough decision. I didn’t want to leave Leeds. I’ve been open about this. It’s my hometown, I loved it, even though we were relegated to the Championship and in financial difficulties, I still wanted to play for Leeds.

“They literally told me the money was that bad and my agent told me to meet the guys in London, they told me Daws was coming, Wayne Routledge, Tom Huddlestone and I liked the sound of that, but I struggled for three or four months, I couldn’t settle, I was homesick.”

Lennon has already spoken about the wages he was on at Leeds as just a young teenager previously, a revelation which left another former Whites player Rio Ferdinand in shock.

Unfortunately, though, that was just the position Leeds were in and it took several years for the club to recover from such poor financial mismanagement.

Thankfully now, if Leeds do fail to secure an immediate return to the Premier League like in 2005, they are in a far better position. Yes, players would be likely to leave, but for money that would keep Leeds more than competitive in the division and ready for another promotion push.