Leeds United had an incredibly busy summer in 2014 in what was Massimo Cellino’s first transfer window since becoming owner.
Whatever happens to Leeds this season, the Whites will know that they face a crucial summer regardless of whether they are looking to challenge for promotion from the Championship once again or actually looking to prepare for a season in the top flight.
With that in mind, HITC Sport is looking back at some of the best and worst transfer windows Leeds have had in recent years, on this occasion looking back on the eventful summer of 2014…
The previous season
Leeds’ 2013/14 campaign had been overshadowed by the takeover from Italian businessman Massimo Cellino. Brian McDermott was let go after another bottom-half finish and little-known Dave Hockaday became the first head coach appointment of the Cellino era.
Dave Hockaday
Who left?
Several of the squad players from previous sides moved on. The likes of Michael Brown, El Hadji Diouf, Lee Peltier and Luke Varney headed elsewhere, but it was also the summer when a trio of strikers left Elland Road prompting contrasting emotions from supporters.
Ross McCormack and Matt Smith headed to Fulham while Dominic Poleon was allowed to join Oldham. While McCormack was formerly a talisman of the side, his £11 million switch (via BBC Sport) was well received due to the money involved, but Smith’s and Poleon’s departures seemed to make little sense.
Tom Lees’ move to Sheffield Wednesday seemed to be the right call at the time, but the change of scene has worked wonders for the centre-back.
Ross McCormack
Who came in?
It was a bizarre window to say the least in terms of incomings. Cellino, unsurprisingly, turned to Italy for many of the additions, bringing the likes of Marco Silvestri, Tommaso Bianchi, Gaetano Berardi, Mirco Antenucci, Giuseppe Bellusci and Souleymane Doukara in permanently from Italian clubs, while Billy Sharp and Liam Cooper were among the other additions.
Meanwhile, Zan Benedicic, Adryan, Dario Del Fabro and Brian Montenegro all arrived on loan, but none made much of an impact before their departures.
Adryan
What happened?
A season of transition was never allowed to settle with the large squad changes being followed up by a number of managerial changes throughout the campaign.
Unsurprisingly, another bottom-half finish in the Championship was achieved, which, given the amount of chaos, may not have been that bad a result.
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