Football: Leeds wait for Hasselbaink cash
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Your support makes all the difference.PETER RIDSDALE, the Leeds United chairman, contacted the Spanish club Atletico Madrid yesterday for assurances that the pounds 6m down-payment on Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's pounds 12m transfer will be paid.
"Atletico have more pressure on them than we have over this because they have a transfer window [which closes on Friday] and they want the player's registration," Ridsdale said yesterday. "We have done a deal and if a club of their standing cannot deliver the price I would have thought the embarrassment would be far greater for them.
"My understanding is that in the past some British clubs have had problems getting subsequent payments for players sold abroad so we insisted on bank guarantees which are irrevocable and as good as cash.
"If we get those guarantees we get the money. If we don't, we get the player back." Atletico are intensifying their attempts to sell their Brazilian midfielder, Juninho, in order to raise the money - which may alert Premiership clubs.
The share prices of Leeds and Chelsea, meanwhile, have experienced dramatic rises, after rumours that Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB is considering buying a 9.9 per cent share in both clubs. Ridsdale said last week that he was in talks with a number of media companies with a view to one of them taking a stake in the club, while BSkyB's chief executive, Tony Ball, is reportedly in talks with Ken Bates, the chairman of Chelsea. Earlier this year BskyB's pounds 623m bid for Manchester United was blocked by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission.
As speculation mounted, shares in Leeds Sporting gained 5 per cent, adding pounds 4m pounds to their value, while shares in Chelsea Village - the club's owners - rose by seven per cent, an appreciation of pounds 9.4m.
Arsenal could be without the services of Emmanuel Petit for up to six weeks, because of a knee injury sustained during Saturday's goalless draw with Sunderland. An x-ray, due to take place in Paris this week, should determine his fate.
Sheffield United are understood to have lodged an official complaint with the Football League claiming that Huddersfield Town "induced" Steve Bruce to leave his managerial post at Bramall Lane. United are thought to want pounds 750,000 in compensation.
Bruce quit the Blades at the end of last season, claiming his position had "become increasingly untenable" due to boardroom interference, and within a week had taken over at the McAlpine Stadium. United believe Bruce had been poached by Huddersfield, such was his swift appointment. Huddersfield have said there is no case to answer. Bruce would not comment yesterday.
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