Leeds United's intriguing £217m most expensive all-time XI - featuring former Man Utd & Barcelona stars

Leeds United have had their share of ups and downs over the last few decades, and few would have expected them to spend quite so much time stuck in the second (and even third) tiers of the football pyramid given their lofty status and substantial support base. But through thick and thin, there has been one constant – spending lots of money.

For a Championship club, Leeds have splashed some serious cash, and they weren’t shy of loosening the purse strings in the Premier League, either – so just for fun, we’ve decided to figure out the most expensive sensible starting XI of players ever signed by Leeds.

We’ve gone for a 4-4-2 formation full of flops, success stories, and at least one players whose name is mud in certain parts of Yorkshire. Let’s see where Leeds put all that money…

GK: Illan Meslier (£5m)

For all that Leeds have been relatively free spenders, it took decades for a goalkeeper to overtake Nigel Martyn as the club’s most expensive signing between the sticks. It was Frenchman Meslier who broke that record, and while the fee wasn’t exactly astronomical, you’d get a pretty mixed response from fans if you asked whether it was worth it. Meslier has yet to really live up to early hype, and seems to have a howler in him even now.

LB: Junior Firpo (£12.5m)

When a club like Leeds sign a player from Barcelona – even one who was not deemed to have met expectations at the Camp Nou – there’s going to be some fanfare and some pretty high expectations. The results, have in truth, been mixed. Firpo struggled in the top flight and took a while to establish himself as first choice in the Championship as well, but has been on fine form in 2024, offering some optimism that he’s on the way up at last.

CB: Diego Llorente (£18m)

Another big deal which didn’t really work out as well as hoped. Llorente was only a first-team regular for one season, was loaned out to AS Roma after relegation, and eventually flogged to Real Betis for a hefty loss of £14m. He was, at least, fairly solid when he did play in the Premier League, but it’s fair to say that more would have been expected given the fee.

CB: Rio Ferdinand (£18m)

Leeds made Ferdinand the most expensive player in British history back in 2000, but don’t mention his name around Elland Road now – they may have made a healthy profit on his eventual move to rivals Manchester United, but it was a transfer that ensured the lasting enmity of every Leeds fan. A great player, of course, but not one who will get many free pints in LS11. If he gets served at all.

RB: Rasmus Kristensen (£10m)

Still technically a Leeds player, Kristensen enjoyed just one fairly modest season as a Leeds player before relegation saw him move away on loan, first to AS Roma and now to Eintracht Frankfurt. Should he make the grade there, the purchase option on his loan deal would at least turn a small profit for Leeds, but he’s not a name who will go down in the annals at Elland Road, in all truth.

LW: Luis Sinisterra (£21m)

The Colombian winger, the most expensive sale in Feyenoord’s history, shone in flashes during his one full season in Yorkshire, even if he could hardly called an entirely consistent performer – when Leeds went down at the end of the 2022/23 campaign, he did well enough to convince Bournemouth to take him on, although Leeds lost around £1m in the bargain. Still fun in flashes, Sinisterra hasn’t established himself as a regular at Dean Court.

CM: Tyler Adams (£20m)

Another signing from the big-money summer of 2022, and another player in the post-relegation Leeds to Bournemouth pipeline. The club at least broke even on this deal after one season which started with promise before ending in major hamstring surgery. His injury luck hasn’t gotten any better – he has made just 10 appearances for the Cherries since the move.

CM: Brenden Aaronson (£24.5m)

The summer of 2022 strikes again, this time with another American midfielder who can play ahead of Adams in a diamond in our hypothetical team. Aaronson was mostly noted for working hard but not necessarily effectively during the first season of his Leeds career and was loaned out to Union Berlin after relegation – but he’s now back at Elland Road, back in the team and playing rather better in the second tier.

RW: Daniel James (£25m)

Wales international James had enjoyed some flashy moments at Manchester United (them again) without quite making the grade at Old Trafford, but Leeds took a chance on him back in 2021. It hasn’t all been plain sailing – he spent the 2022/23 season on loan at Fulham – but since relegation he’s stayed put and made a big contribution, bagging 13 goals in the 2023/24 campaign.

CF: Rodrigo (£27m)

A club record signing from Valencia, centre-forward Rodrigo was meant to be the man whose goals kept them in the top flight. Those goals took a while to come in any great number, however, and he managed just 13 Premier League goals across his first two seasons before improving dramatically to hit the same number in Leeds’ last season before relegation. Now playing in Qatar, Rodrigo doesn’t go down as a flop, per se, but wasn’t exactly a smash hit.

CF: Georginio Rutter (£36m)

Sadly for the Leeds faithful, they only got to watch the outstanding Rutter for one full season before club finances necessitated selling him to Brighton for a profit of just £4m – but what a season it was. His mazy running and creative vision earned 16 assists in the second tier and had the club been promoted, he would have been one of the main reasons. The most expensive player in Leeds history and a fabulous player that most at Elland Road would have loved to keep hold of.