Chris Wood insists he never refused to play for Leeds as forward sets record straight over £18m Burnley move Exclusive: Since Wood left Elland Road, he has been accused of refusing to play in Leeds’ Championship game away at Sunderland - but this wasn't the case, he says please log in to view this image Chris Wood wants to set the record straight. Over six weeks have passed since he left Leeds United for Burnley, for a fee that could rise to £18m. And he has started well for Sean Dyche’s side, with three goals already. But there is something he wants to make very clear. Because since Wood left Elland Road, he has been accused of refusing to play in Leeds’ Championship game away at Sunderland, the day after his move to Turf Moor was agreed, but two days before it was completed. It is an accusation that would sting any professional player. In reality, Burnley’s successful bid, lodged 24 hours before the game, stipulated that Wood could not face Sunderland. So the matter was taken out of Wood’s hands. Wood scored 30 goals for Leeds last season and told The Independent in an interview this week that he still wishes the club all the best, and has the utmost respect for chairman Andrea Radrizzani. But the 25-year-old wanted to be clear that he would never have ducked out of the match at the Stadium of Light. please log in to view this image Why New Zealand's Wood doesn't fear World Cup play-off date with Messi “Nobody understands that the bid Burnley put in was subject to me not playing against Sunderland,” Wood says. “And everybody thinks that I refused to play. But it was out of my hands. The bid went in at 3pm on the Friday and got accepted at 5pm on the Friday. It was completely out of my hands whether I played or not. Burnley took that out of the equation, because they didn’t want the worst to happen.” Wood, at the time, wrote on Twitter that he “did not feel it [was] right” to play in that match because of his imminent move to Burnley. Not because he did not want to, but because he could not. Leeds accepted Burnley’s bid on the Friday afternoon, verbally and then in writing, and then told Wood’s agent that he would not be able to play against Sunderland. But Wood stayed with the team’s hotel so as not to distract from preparations. “They said they’d like me to stay there so it doesn’t upset the team, they could focus on the Sunderland game, without people from the outside world thinking why they had got rid of a player the day before the game,” Wood recalls. “They just wanted everybody to focus on the game. That is why they wouldn’t let me leave the hotel until the game kicked off, so there was no distraction.” Only when the game did finish on the Saturday afternoon could Wood travel to Manchester, where he had his medical on the Sunday and formally completed his move on the Monday. please log in to view this image Wood scored 30 goals for Leeds last season (Reuters) What frustrates Wood is that he has been made to look as if he agitated for the move when he did no such thing. He never put in a transfer request but when, earlier in the summer, Leeds spoke to him about his future, he said he would like the chance to play in the Premier League if a top flight club came in for him. “Throughout this whole process Andrea was fantastic, he always said we can come up with a deal if that is what you would like to do, and it is the best opportunity for you,” he said. “If you want to make that move to the Premier League, we will come to sort of arrangement.” There were never anything amounting to serious contract talks between Wood and Leeds. “We never actually sat down and talked about figures or anything like that,” he says. “It was never on my agenda, to sign a new contract. At the time I was still holding out hope for a Premier League club. A new deal could have been discussed when the transfer window closed.” please log in to view this image The New Zealander has made a positive start to life at Burnley (Getty) So Wood was disappointed when word was put out that he had turned down a lucrative contract just as he was on his way to Burnley. It made him look like the villain. “They knew the bid was going in, and the bid was going to be accepted that Friday,” Wood said. “They played the game to make sure they don’t look bad in front of the fans. As much as I wanted it to be amicable, and they did, I understand they cannot be seen to be getting rid of their top scorer.” On a personal level between Wood and Radrizzani, though, there is still warmth, and he wishes his former club all the best. “He thanked me for my services, and I hope he does well, he’s a good man” Wood said. “He just needed his team to look good and not be the villain in this case.”
"Wood, at the time, wrote on Twitter that he “did not feel it [was] right” to play in that match because of his imminent move to Burnley. Not because he did not want to, but because he could not". Absolute pish. I may be Scottish but "did not feel it was right" means to me that he made a choice. Otherwise he would have said 'not allowed to play due to bid'. Absolute pish, pish, pish. He'd be better just shutting up about it. Now if Radz backs up what he says, I might listen, but I only hear silence. Just in case I wasn't clear enough - PISH!
Agree with Jock & to be fair he's gone so not thought about him. Yes thanks for the goals but those goals were also for you and move to the prem with big wages
actually Wood is correct, he worded his tweet incorrectly ... he did not say "I did not feel" simply "did not feel" ... should have said "Burnley did not feel" but sometimes we tweet our thoughts so quickly and with text limitiations in mind we shorten what we think and only realise after that we fcuked up the message ... it makes perfect sense for Burnley to request an £18m signing not to play once a fee has been agreed and a medical awaits ... there was no rush to do the medical right away so everything was arranged for the Sunday in Manchester as Wood was already in Sunderland with the club Leeds didn't want to disrupt preparations for Sunderland, so Wood stayed with the squad and Burnley were told "medical on Sunday, he won't play Saturday" ... we are talking a serious deal here, £18m is huge for both clubs, so keeping Wood out of the firing line and away from a potential injury that would put the transfer at risk was simply a precaution any club would take imagine Leeds put in a bid for, let's say Kyle Bartley on a Friday in January ... Bartley is in Sheffield preparing for a Cup tie against the Blades ... the bid of £8m is accepted and twitter is abuzz with excited Leeds fans pleased that Bartley is coming to help with our promotion push ... then we hear Bartley is starting for Swansea on the Saturday as his Leeds medical is only due to happen on Sunday at Thorp Arch and Clement doesn't want any disruptions to his team anyway Bartley plays a blinder as Swansea build a 2-0 lead, but in injury time he mistimes a header and badly hurts his back, and just like that the deal is off ... Leeds fans are devastated, and publicly voice their displeasure at Radz, Orta and Tommy for not stopping Bartley from playing after the transfer was agreed ... there is a call from fans for Orta and Tommy to be sacked immediately, and for "that idiot Radz" to sell the club and get out of Dodge look, there is no way Dyche would have allowed his most important ever transfer target to play once a deal was agreed ... he signed Wood to become a key component in scoring the goals to keep Burnley up ... Dyche would have looked a right mug along with the Leeds management team if Wood played, did his cruciate and missed the rest of the season nope, Wood's explanation is not fanciful nor is it a cover up, he's just not that type of character ... good luck to the lad, he helped our club to get its dignity back, to build momentum and to believe again ... yes, I'm gutted he left but that's how it is when you're in the Championship ... fcuk, even clubs like Bournemouth and Norwich have raided us, so this is nothing new and it simply underlines how vital it now has become to get to the Prem goldmine asap Radz is God
Shame then that we are now walking backwards with our Hockadayesque coach and a squad so thin on ability players with broken ribs get picked ahead of others. Lose to Reading and this season would be nearly over. The quality sides in this division will rip us a new one in coming weeks.
By the time there is evidence it will be another lost season. But even the happiest of clappies will be coming round to the idea if we lose to Reading...
Alioski played a stormer last night/ yesterday and Italy looked rally quite poor. Historically a defensive team winning 1-0 quite a lot of the time but last night, well they couldn't have defended a free pizza with extra cheese and a stuffed crust.
