Leeds United have missed out on some fantastic signings in their time.
Indeed, Josko Gvardiol almost joined Leeds under Marcelo Bielsa, while Cody Gakpo nearly signed for Leeds at one point.
Now, another big-name footballer has admitted that he had a close call with a move to Elland Road.
Indeed, speaking on the Filthy Fellas Podcast, Jermaine Jenas has claimed that Leeds made a £5m bid to sign him when he initially left Nottingham Forest, but his agent advised him against the move due to the impending doom at Elland Road.
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Leeds bid £5m to sign Jermaine Jenas
Jenas spoke about his options when he left Nottingham Forest.
The England international midfielder says Leeds and Manchester United made bids to sign him, but, ultimately, he was ushered towards Newcastle at the time.
“We had a day off and the manager called me into the office and he was like, look, we’ve had three bids coming for you. He said, Leeds have bid £5m, but you’re not going near,” Jenas said.
“It was like the Rio, David O’Leary team when they were playing Champions League, yeah, yeah, yeah. But he said, you’re not going near because he said, it’s about to fall apart, so you’re not going there. And then he said, Man United have bid £5m, but Sir Alex said he’s not going anymore because it’s a privilege to play for the football club.
“And then he said, Newcastle have bid 5 million, and the car’s going to be here in an hour.”
Jermaine Jenas’ record vs Leeds
Jenas rejected a move to Leeds as he was breaking onto the scene, and, ultimately, that proved to be the right decision for him.
Indeed, Leeds, as Jenas’ agent predicted, did collapse and were eventually relegated in 2004.
Meanwhile, Jenas would go on to play top-level football for Newcastle and eventually Tottenham.
Interestingly, Jenas never lost a single game against Leeds during his career in all six outings against the Whites.
| Jermaine Jenas’ record vs Leeds | |
| Games | 6 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Draws | 3 |
| Losses | 0 |
Who knows? Maybe a midfielder like Jenas could’ve kept Leeds up in 2004, but, realistically, the problems at the club at that time were a lot deeper than any one player could solve.
