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Rio Ferdinand sent a chilling warning to ex-Leeds teammate Robbie Keane warning him of the club’s impending financial doom.
The pair spent one season together at Elland Road during David O’Leary’s tenure as boss and with Leeds battling for domestic and European honours.
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With the Whites seemingly heading for greater heights on the pitch, unbeknownst to many, financial difficulties were simmering under the surface.
Leeds boasted a youthful all-star squad with stars such as Keane, Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell and Robbie Fowler.
Their midfield consisted of Alan Smith, Olivier Dacourt, David Batty and Lee Bowyer while the promising Ferdinand marshalled Leeds’ backline alongside Lucas Radebe and Jonathan Woodgate.
A fourth-place finish behind Champions Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool in the 2000/01 was viewed as a stepping stone to an eventual title tussle with Sir Alex Ferguson’s men.
And the signs were good if European performances were anything to go by.
Leeds were one game away from a trip to the San Siro to face Bayern Munich in the Champions League final but a 3-0 semi-final second leg defeat at Valencia proved to be one step too far for O’Leary’s ‘babies’.
With momentum on their side and fans buoyant ahead of the new 2001/02 season, things began to unravel behind the scenes.
The club’s success in building a young team capable of challenging in the latter stages of European competitions came at a huge monetary cost, with the level of spending exceeding the 19 other Premier League clubs.
Financial mismanagement saw the club’s debt level rise to a whopping £119million after splashing huge sums on transfer fees and player wages.
Leeds were forced to offload some of their brightest talents including Ferdinand and Keane with Manchester United and Tottenham the beneficiaries of the west Yorkshire club’s plight.
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Keane is adamant that Leeds would have gone on to fulfil their silverware objectives if they kept their stars together.
“If we had stayed a couple more years we would have won something, definitely,” Keane told ex-teammate Ferdinand on a recent episode of Rio Ferdinand presents.
“I remember being in the car with you and Sir Alex Ferguson called you about going to Man United. You actually said to me my agent’s been on to me. Leeds are in trouble. They’re in trouble financially.
“They need to sell players quickly to get money and you [Ferdinand] were the first one, you went for £19 million or something. I think I went for eight or ten million to Leeds.
“And that was kind of the start of it. I was gutted about you going to Man United. At the time they were the pinnacle but I thought if we’d have stayed together we’d have won something.”
Leeds failed to qualify for the Champions League following Ferdinand’s switch to Old Trafford and Keane’s move to Tottenham.
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The club could no longer sustain the debt repayments without the ticket sales from Champions League nights leading to further player sales.
Leeds were eventually relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2003/04 campaign.
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