The 27-year-old was not the most popular player among Leeds United fans.
Giuseppe Bellusci has told reporters via ItaSportPress (cited by Football Italia) that Leeds United fans are “incredible”, but intimated that he was unfairly judged during his time at Elland Road.
The 27-year-old defender joined Empoli on a season-long loan in the summer in a departure which Whites supporters celebrated.
The centre-back, who was dropped by then-head coach Steve Evans toward the end of last season for disciplinary reasons, was something of a controversial figure during his two-year spell in Yorkshire and often made headlines.
In 2015, six of Leeds’ foreign contingent – four of whom were Italian, including Bellusci – pulled out of a trip to Charlton the day before kickoff in what manager-at-the-time Neil Redfearn described as a “freakish set of events”.
The Yorkshire Evening Post later reported that the withdrawals “were widely seen as an attempt to undermine” Redfearn.
Before that, the former Catania man was accused, and subsequently cleared, of racially abusing Cameron Jerome.
Speaking to reporters via ItaSportPress (cited by Football Italia), Bellusci admits he had a tough time at Leeds but praised the club’s fans – even if they ‘magnified’ certain things.
“It was difficult in England. [Leeds] are a historical club and the fans are incredible, but they magnify things.
“Did we pay for the fact that we were foreigners? I wouldn’t say so but that’s what transpired. I don’t do controversy, but when there were troubles, it always ended up as us Italians in the middle.”
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