Leeds United chairman explains sale of Wood to Burnley

New Zealander Wood completed his move to the Premiership club today for a fee in the region of £15 million and Radrizzani explained why the Whites agreed to the deal.

In his statement he said: “For the past month we have tried to negotiate a new three year contract with Chris Wood.

“We offered the player strong financial terms including reasonable exit clauses, lower than the fee we demanded for a transfer this summer, should the club not reach the Premier League in a certain timeframe.

“However, the player’s preference was to leave Leeds United and as he only had one year left on his contract after this season we had to protect the club and ensure we did not sell Chris below our valuation.

“We want players at Leeds who consider us a big club and we want players who are committed to our vision to return to the Premier League.

“Supporters can rest assured that monies generated from the sale of Chris Wood will be reinvested into adding to the 12 signings we have made already.

“Thank you for your continued support.”

Leeds have been linked with a number of replacements, including Sheffield Wednesday’s Jordan Rhodes.

United, meanwhile, are close to selling a second player with last season’s club captain Liam Bridcutt on the verge of a move to fellow Championship club Nottingham Forest.