It is fair to say that over the decades, Leeds United has made numerous signings, and they have made a decent impact on the club.
Obviously, a lot gets said about the attacking players, who are invariably more exciting because they score goals, and sometimes, defenders often go under the radar.
| Player | Appearances | Goals | Assists | Yellow Cards | Red Cards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rio Ferdinand | 73 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Ezgjan Alioski | 171 | 22 | 19 | 32 | 0 |
| Luke Ayling | 268 | 11 | 21 | 43 | 1 (1) |
| Dominic Matteo | 145 | 4 | 3 | 23 | 2 |
| Richard Naylor | 76 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 0 |
**All Statistics From Transfermarkt**
On that note, I have reviewed five of the club’s best defensive signings since 2000, including their impact on the Whites and standout moments!
Rio Ferdinand
I remember when we first signed Ferdinand, who was probably one of the best players we brought in over the last 20 years or so (not just defensively). For those who don’t remember – we got him from West Ham United in November 2000. We broke the British transfer record at the time, and (I know it seems hard to imagine now!), but he became the world’s most expensive defender after an £18 million outlay.
He was a big part of the team during his two years at the club, making an immediate impact and was key during the our Champions League campaign, which took us to the semi-finals. Sometimes over the years – especially when we were in England’s third tier, I’ve found myself looking back to the days when we had the likes of Ferdinand, Jonathan Woodgate and Lucas Radebe and dreaming of brighter ones ahead!
In the summer of 2002, we sold him to ‘that lot’ for £29.3 million plus add-ons, which rose to £33.3 million – he was always destined to win trophies, though probably many other Leeds fans, like me, wish he would have gone to another club – I reckon, Real Madrid could have been an option!
Ezgjan Alioski
I was pretty excited when we signed Alioski, or ‘Gianni’ to us fans. We brought him in as a left winger, and the Macedonian became somewhat of a cult hero in the following years. Our legendary manager Marcelo Bielsa converted him to a left-back with great success.
He soon became somewhat of an idol – in fact I remember his first few games, where he grabbed a handful of assists and a pretty decent goal from the wing. Obviously his work-rate was a great part of his game and I think this is why he could probably get away with some of his clownish antics, that still seemed to go down well at the club.
He scored in all four of the club’s games in November that year. Alioski struck an impressive 21 goals in 161 appearances, two of which came in the Premier League in prolific wins against Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion.
GOAL!! Leeds 1-1 Hull
⚽ Alioski right at the death!
📱 App → https://t.co/B20m65uOHq
📻 Listen → https://t.co/VJgUHnqdM1 pic.twitter.com/R2KfVdoRYL— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) September 16, 2020
In July 2021, to the disappointment of many fans, including myself, Alioski left the club to join Saudi side Al Ahli, though he is still remembered fondly at Elland Road.
Luke Ayling
Having joined from Bristol City for £200,000 in August 2016, the right-back went on to enjoy nearly eight years at the club. It quickly became a fan favourite – especially under Bielsa, a period of time when he arguably enjoyed his best football – I thought he could at one point get an England call-up. Certainly, his form in our first season back in the big time, I think at least earned him consideration.
While Bielsa was at Leeds, I thought Ayling’s game improved a lot, and he became arguably the best right-back in the Championship. He earned a reputation for long-range strikes, pinpoint assists, and being a marauding force on the counter-attack.
I was a bit sad when he joined Middlesbrough permanently, though admittedly, he would have struggled probably to break into our team regularly.
Dominic Matteo
I’ve got to admit, I quite liked Matteo – I have fond nostalgia of him being listed in lineups on old editions of FIFA back in the day. Although he was often overshadowed by the ‘bigger’ defensive names of Ferdinand, Jonathan Woodgate and Lucas Radebe, to be fair, he did actually turn out to be an exceptional signing for us.
He joined in August 2000 dint he, from our rivlas for the league (ha – sounds ridiculous right now, don’t it?!) Liverpool for about £5 mill.
You know what’s coming next, don’t you? That goal, in the San Siro against AC Milan – boom, a header at the near post to get us a draw, after we beat ‘em 1-0 at Elland Road.
I thought Matteo thought he was pretty dece for us – could play everywhere nearly as well couldn’t he. Centre-half, left-back, push into midfield if we needed him to – think he did that a handful of times as well.
Richard Naylor
I admit, I pulled this one from left-field, or the depths of my noggin, but Naylor is someone that many probably wouldn’t think of. He was pretty handy in our automatic promotion campaign when we went up from League One during the 2009/10 season. Decent signing from Ipswich as well.
It probably wasn’t a surprise to many that he got promoted to captain – it’s a rogue shout, but I think he could probably be regarded as one of the best skippers we’ve had over the last 15 years. For me, he left everything on the line in that (the one!) 1-0 FA Cup 3rd Round win over that lot at Old Trafford. I can’t believe that was January 2010.
Did We Miss Anyone?
For sure, you will probably be able to come up with a few names that I missed – no doubt some of you have your favourites who you remember that aren’t on here, though, don’t worry – there’s some notable mentions below. See if they’re who you’re thinking of.
Merely just for how big of a name he is alone, I nearly put Diego Llorente in – yeah, when we signed him, I was quite excited – arrived with a good reputation but he didn’t really deliver did he? The Premier League seemed to catch him out and he probably didn’t fit into Bielsa’s tactics – he wasn’t that rapid was he?
There was Robin Koch wasn’t there as well? He came in a bit before Llorente and, to be fair, he probably did a bit better. I mean, our defensive record in the Prem wasn’t exactly great so I don’t think we can be too harsh – especially with the way we played.
There’s another. Of course there is. You’re probably wondering if I’d forgotten. But, love him or hate him, Pontus Jansson definitely left his mark on our club! He pretty much marked his own card though in that Aston Villa game when he refused to let them have a goal – it was pretty comical to be honest and Bielsa can’t have been surprised. No doubt though – smashing defender for us at that level.
I guess we could have Ben White in here as well, although he was only on loan. But still, he was head and shoulders above probably every defender in the league at that level. Let’s not forget – he helped to take us up.
