£3m Premier League player says he absolutely loved his time at Leeds United

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Leeds United have had to say goodbye to some incredibly talented players over the years.

From Kalvin Phillips to Crysencio Summerville, Leeds have had to let go a number of very talented players in recent times.

Tom Cairney is another player who was on Leeds’ books at one point, but he was released at the age of 16.

Since then, Cairney has established himself as a star at Fulham, captaining the Whites in the Premier League.

Speaking on The Joy of Football Podcast, Cairney has been reminiscing about his time at Leeds United, and he says that his spell in west Yorkshire was amazing and that he has some very happy memories from that period.

• READ MORE: Sam Allardyce shares what really shocked him about Leeds when he took over

Tom Cairney loved it at Leeds

The £3m man spoke about his time in the Leeds academy.

“They were producing the likes of Alan Smith, James Milner, Aaron Lennon. They were the poster boys at the time,” Cairney said.

“It was an amazing time to be at Leeds to be honest with you. They were in the Champions League, do you remember the time with Rio Ferdinand, Mark Viduka, Kewell, Lee Bowyer. They were really happy memories.”

Leeds got Tom Cairney call wrong

Leeds have made their fair share of transfer mistakes over the years, and letting Tom Cairney go as a youngster was certainly an error.

Cairney has grown into a top player. He’s been an incredible servant for Fulham over the past decade, producing the goods in both the Championship and the Premier League.

Leeds could’ve used Cairney at numerous points over the past 10 years, but, sadly, they let the Scotland international slip through their fingers.

Leeds’ academy has been brilliant at producing talented players over the years, and Cairney is one who got away.