At present Liverpool and Leeds United are on totally different trajectories, but back in the 1990s, the clubs were much closer as rivals on the pitch.
Under Howard Wilkinson the all whites shone and that was enough to ensure that former Liverpool ace, John Aldridge, would have agreed to a move back to England after he’d left the Reds to go to Real Sociedad.
Speaking on the We Are Liverpool Podcast, the former striker recalled his disappointment at not actually being able to ply his trade at Elland Road.
“I had just scored my eighth goal against Barcelona in six games at the Camp Nou and Howard Wilkinson was watching that game when he was at Leeds,” he said.
“I actually thought, Leeds, big club, I will have a bit of that. As soon as we beat Barcelona 3-1 in my last away game, I scored two, I thought it’s got to be on.
“The club wanted £400,000 for me but he didn’t come in for me for some reason. I don’t know what that was all about. Would I have gone to Leeds? 100 per cent.”
Now a pundit who isn’t afraid of speaking his mind, Aldridge clearly would’ve liked a crack at the big time in England again, however, he ended up signing for Tranmere Rovers.
Whilst there, he made almost 300 appearances, the most for any of the teams he represented during his professional career, despite signing for them at 32 years of age. In his first season he even bagged a club record of 40 goals.
Unfortunately for Aldridge, not turning out for Leeds looks like a case of ‘what might’ve been.’
Given how well he ultimately ended up playing for Tranmere, perhaps Howard Wilkinson should be the one left a little melancholy by not getting a deal done at the time for a player who still knew where the net was.
