Peter Ridsdale has admitted that Leeds are willing to sell Olivier Dacourt but has warned Italy's big guns that Mark Viduka would not be sold for anything less than £30million. The Leeds chairman has warned manager David O'Leary that he will need to offload some players to cut the Elland Road wage bill after failing to land any silverware this season.
But Ridsdale claims that Dacourt is the only star player Leeds are prepared to part with. Speaking to The Sun, Ridsdale confirrmed: "Leeds do not want to sell star players - apart from Olivier Dacourt. In life, everything has a price and, if you know any chairman of an Italian club who is ready to play me at least £30million for Viduka, give him my telephone number."
He continued: "Sergio Cragnotti at Lazio is a friend and we have spoken about Dacourt because Lazio want him, but Olivier prefers Juventus. The only sure thing is Dacourt is an excellent midfielder and definitely better than Juan Veron is this season with Manchester United. Otherwise, there's nothing doing, and the same goes for Harry Kewell. We are not desperate for money, even less so if we qualify for the Champions League. Why should we sell when what we really need is quality players rather than more money?"
Filed by Shane Murray
