On This Day – 4th August
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was on his was out of Leeds United on this day back in 1999 after club chairman Peter Ridsdale refused to accept the Dutchman’s wage demands.
Despite being United’s top goalscorer for the two previous seasons, Ridsdale refused to pay Hasselbaink the £60,000 a week that he demanded. That amount seems like next to nothing compared to the huge wages that players are on these days but it would have made him the highest earner in the Premier League at that time.
Hasselbaink was shown the door and sold to Athletico Madrid for £10 million. He would only spend one season in Spain, scoring 24 goals in 34 league appearances. He then left Madrid when Athletico were relegated from La Liga and returned to England. He signed for Chelsea for £15 million, breaking the club’s transfer record in the process.
Leeds did well from the sale of Hasselbaink, using the money gained from the transfer to bring in several new players to the squad. Eirik Bakke, Michael Duberry, Jason Wilcox, Darren Huckerby and Danny Mills were all brought in to bolster the squad.
Hasselbaink’s replacement was Sunderland’s 21 year old striker Michael Bridges, who was signed for £6.75 million. Bridges scored 19 goals in the Premier League in his first season in the Premier League, including a hat-trick in his first game at Elland Road.
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