Leeds chairman Peter Risdale is confident that Australian striker Mark Viduka will remain with the club despite all the speculation surrounding his future. Viduka has been linked with moves to Real Madrid, AC Milan and Lazio among others, while Inter Milan have now joined in the race for the Australian's signature. According to Inter's president Massimo Moratti, the club have spoken with Viduka's agent and will be approaching Leeds over the next two weeks.
However, Risdale has expressed his confidence that Viduka is not going anywhere. "I am hopeful Mark will sign a one-year extension to his contract. I met him in Croatia and we had a chat. He told me he is very happy at Leeds and has never been as settled anywhere. He appreciates the club taking the initiative to talk to him, which is what we promised we would do if he had a successful season."
"There has been a lot of speculation about clubs from abroad, but that doesn't matter. The key thing is that he is under contract for four years at the moment and I hope it will soon be five," explained the chairman.
It seems Viduka feels the same way after he warned it would take something special to tempt him away from Elland Road. "It would have to be a very, very good deal to prise me away from Leeds. It's not all about money. It's about being somewhere which feels right and at Leeds we are building something special," he said.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
