Liam Bridcutt admits he did not want to leave Leeds United

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Former Leeds United captain Liam Bridcutt admits he never wanted to leave the club but felt he had to amid confusion over his long-term future at the club. 

Leeds snapped up the Scotland international in an initial loan deal in November 2015. That deal was made permanent for a fee in the region of £1.5 million (Chronicle) the following summer with Garry Monk also handing him the club captaincy. 

But after some injury troubles at Leeds, Thomas Christiansen stripped him of the captaincy in 2017, handing the armband to Liam Cooper and Bridcutt headed to Nottingham Forest in august that year. 

Speaking to World Football Index, Bridcutt reaffirmed his affection for Leeds United as a club. He then stated that he decided to leave amid Leeds’ transition in ownership and a lack of stability regarding his own future. 

“My first season at Leeds United was on loan, and I can’t speak highly enough of the club really. The fans and the atmosphere at Elland Road were excellent and you really feel the level of expectation when you are a Leeds United player, and it is something that really excited me.

“It was an easy decision to sign for the club. When I moved on to Nottingham Forest after Leeds United I did not want to leave the club, but the reason why I did was because of stability really. At the time I only had a year on my contract at Leeds and the club was not willing to extend my contract.

“They were in a transitional period in terms of ownership so they could not really commit to long term contacts…”

Bridcutt was an exciting acquisition when Leeds snapped him up but it never quite fully clicked for the combative midfielder at Elland Road. 

He soon found himself in the shadow of Ronaldo Vieira, Kalvin Phillips, and Eunan O’Kane before the arrival of Mateusz Klich and Vurnon Anita also saw him drop down the pecking order in the summer of 2017. 

Since his move to Forest, Bridcutt has again struggled to establish himself and has been out on loan at Bolton Wanderers and Lincoln City in recent times. 

On his day, Bridcutt is a championship quality midfield star and he should easily find himself a club willing to give him a chance to shine in the near future. 

It is just a shame his time at Leeds never lived up to its early promise.