OTP revisits some of the transfers that the country’s largest clubs would rather forget…
10. Danny Granville
Signed from Chelsea for £1.6million, Granville never really made a significant impression on the Leeds first team, and was sold after just one season for an £800,000 loss to Manchester City, who were not in the Premier League.
9. Darren Huckerby
Although the fee for Huckerby from Coventry was reported in some quarters as £6million, but we will give them the benefit of the doubt and say £4million. He stayed for just one season and scored just two league goals (at £2million a pop), and his time at Leeds will be remembered as a huge disappointment. He was sold for less than £3.5million to Manchester City.
8. Michael Duberry
Duberry actually stayed at Leeds for approaching seven years, but in that time never played 20 league games per season, and actually made, on average, eight per campaign. Joining for £4.5million, Duberry found himself behind Ferdinand, Woodgate and Matteo in Leeds’ Premier League days, and such leading lights as Didier Domi and Matthew Kilgallon.
7. Nicky Barmby
Joining from Liverpool for a fee of £2.75million, Leeds actually bought Barmby when they were already up financial sh*t creek. Playing just 25 league games in two years whilst Leeds slid down towards relegation, he was eventually loaned to Championship Nottingham Forest.
6. Olivier Dacourt
Dacourt actually gained many plaudits for his early appearances at Elland Road, but the £7.2million signing fell out with the club and Terry Venables after David O’Leary was sacked. This meant that he was loaned out to Roma before a cut-price permanent move, and the Frenchman played less than sixty league games for Leeds.
5. Lee Sharpe
Ridiculously signed for £4.5million despite his history of injuries, Sharpe became Leeds’ record signing. Played 30 league games in three seasons , and was loaned out to Sampdoria and Bradford in the final year. Eventually joined Bradford for just £250,000, and English football’s biggest wasted talent was born.
4. Robbie Keane
Keane started off well at Leeds during an initial loan move, but as soon as the club had paid £12million for his services his formed dropped dramatically. He found himself out of the first team, and stayed for just a single season at Elland Road. With Leeds in financial disarray, he was sold for a loss of £5million to Spurs.
3. Robbie Fowler
After being dropped for Michael Owen and Emile Heskey, Fowler moved to Leeds for a fee of £12million. He scored a few goals towards the end of the 2001/2 season, but suffered an injury in preseason, ruling him out for four months. When he returned Leeds had sold players and slid down the league table, and he was sold to Manchester City for an initial £3million. Even after that, Leeds continued to pay much of Fowler’s wages as part of the deal.
2. Tomas Brolin
Now we’re talking! Stayed for two seasons after signing for £4.5million, making 20 appearances and famously being accused by Howard Wilkinson of not pulling his weight, which would have been a fair achievement given the pounds that the Swede put on. Brolin was voted as the second worst player to ever grace the Premier League and Leeds’ worst ever player, and he retired at the age of 29, shortly after leaving on a free transfer.
1. Seth Johnson
And yet the Swede still isn’t no. 1, as Seth Johnson became a yardstick for having more money than sense in the Premier League. He was bought from Derby for £7million but almost immediately suffered injury problems, meaning he played just 54 league games in four years. Even when he did regain fitness, Leeds realised they would be forced to pay add-ons to Derby if he played more games, and so he was simply constantly left out of the matchday squad. He was eventually released on a free transfer, and retired in 2007, aged 28.
