Former Portugal international reveals Leeds United’s bid to sign him, big offer was made

Former Sporting Lisbon forward Jorge Cadete has told the Portuguese media Leeds United tried to sign him in 1996, when he was playing for Celtic.

Speaking to Atasca do Cherba, Cadete was asked about his time at Celtic and the 49 year old confirmed Leeds United wanted him after seeing him play for the Scottish side: “It was at a time when Leeds United came to see Pierre van Hooijdonk, but after seeing two games they wanted to negotiate my exit.

“They went so far as to offer Celtic £9m in 1996, and they did not want to sell.”

Embed from Getty Images

At the time Cadete was highly thought of in European football, after his goalscoring exploits with Celtic and Sporting Lisbon, and his signing would have been something of a coup for Leeds United.

During this period Leeds United had the likes of Tony Yeboah, Brian Deane and Ian Rush at the club, and Cadete would have been a decent addition to their forward department.

The former Portugal international scored nearly 40 goals in just one full season while in Scotland, and he represented his country 33 times.

ND