Man U's Smith bid rejected-but for how long?

By Neale Sheldon
May 19 2004

After yesterday rejecting two bids from Man Utd for Alan Smith, the Elland Road club were today bracing themselves for an improved offer. The bids of £3.5 million and £5.5 million were turned down, as we hold out for a reported £10 million

The truth is, unless a bidding war breaks out, we are likely to accept closer to £7 million. There are quite a few clubs interested, but Smith will only go to one of the top clubs, either here or overseas. Therefore, it doesn’t matter if a mid table side put £8 million on the table for him – if he doesn’t want to go, we cannot force him out. That said, Leeds are in a stronger position than we were with the Harry Kewell transfer last year. Then, Kewell made it clear that if we didn’t accept the offer he wanted, he would sit tight until January, and sign on a Bosman. Smith, however, has longer left on his contract, so cannot use that as a way of levering himself the perfect move.

However, the truth is that Man U are likely to push the offer up by around a million, and Leeds, under the financial constraints that they are, will allow the player to talk to the club. Liverpool are rumoured to be monitoring the situation, as are Newcastle, whilst potential bids from Valencia and Juventus have so far failed to materialise.