A report has revealed that the key player had an offer to depart Elland Road following relegation
- Leeds United experienced several departures of key players, both permanently and on loan, following their relegation from the Premier League.
- Liam Cooper, the club captain, was approached by a Saudi Arabian team with a lucrative salary offer, but he rejected it and instead asked Leeds to consider extending his contract.
- Cooper’s current Leeds deal expires in the summer of 2024.
After being relegated from the Premier League last season, Leeds United were always in danger of losing some key players this summer.
In the end, a number of big talents ended up departing permanently or temporarily, as you can see from the list below.
| Leeds United – 2023/24 Departures | ||
|---|---|---|
| Player Name | Signed For | Loan/Permanent |
| Tyler Adams | AFC Bournemouth | Permanent (fee involved) |
| Rodrigo Moreno | Al-Rayyan | Permanent (fee involved) |
| Robin Koch | E. Frankfurt | Loan |
| Max Wober | Borussia Monchengladbach | Loan |
| Tyler Roberts | Birmingham City | Permanent |
| Adam Forsha | Norwich City | Permanent |
| Joel Robles | Al-Qadsiah | Permanent |
| Brendan Aaronson | Union Berlin | Loan |
| Jack Harrison | Everton | Loan |
| Luis Sinisterra | AFC Bournemouth | Loan (option-to-buy) |
| Rasmus Kristensen | AS Roma | Loan |
| Marc Roca | Real Betis | Loan |
| Sam Greenwood | Middlesbrough | Loan |
| Cody Drameh | Birmingham City | Loan (option-to-buy) |
| Sonny Perkins | Oxford United | Loan |
| Weston McKennie | Juventus | End of Loan |
It turns out that there might have been another name added to the list following a recent transfer discovery.
Liam Cooper may travel to Saudi Arabia this summer.
Liam Cooper, the club captain for Leeds United, reportedly declined an offer from an international team this summer.
In fact, according to The Athletic, Cooper was contacted by Saudi Arabia’s second-tier team Al Qadsiah, which is now under the management of former Leeds and Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler.
Hay claims that the Saudi side gave Cooper a net income of £2 million year despite being in the secondary group.
Top-10 Highest Earners at Leeds United by Weekly Wages (Ranked)
Per week, this would equate to a weekly net earning of £38,461.
As Phil Hay reports in the article above, though, Cooper effectively rejected the approach from the side, meaning a formal bid was never offered, with the player instead asking Leeds to explore a 12-month extension to his current deal.
How much longer does Liam Cooper’s deal with Leeds United have?
Given that Cooper’s present contract at Elland Road is set to end in the summer of next year, declining such an approach would not have been a big problem.
A new contract for Cooper to stay at the club until 2025 was interestingly shelved when he sustained an injury early in this season; by that point, the Saudi interest had also vanished, according to The Athletic.
Did Liam Cooper make the right decision to stay at Leeds?
Ultimately, in rejecting the approach from Saudi Arabia, Liam Cooper made the right decision – at least from a footballing perspective.
Whilst he would have had security for longer, and been earning a higher figure for longer, his ambitions are clearly more than financial.
Under Daniel Farke, Cooper remains the captain of Leeds, and looked to be a starter under the new boss when the decision was made. Injuries have since complicated this, though.
Furthermore, it wasn’t as though Cooper would have been joining the Saudi Pro League and coming up against the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and others that have headed to Saudi this summer.
The side interested in the 32-year-old were playing in the second tier, and therefore, whilst the financial motive was there, perhaps the footballing side of things was just not enough to convince Cooper of the move.
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