I am a Leeds United favourite – but I almost signed for another Premier League side
Ex-England international Nigel Martyn spent a big chunk of his playing days at Elland Road
Nigel Martyn registered 105 clean sheets in his 265 games for Leeds United but his Elland Road move almost never happened.
The former England goalkeeper revealed in an interview with Under the Cosh podcast that he very nearly joined another Premier League side in 1996. At the time, the Cornwall-born shot-stopper had attracted interest from several top clubs after consistently performing for Crystal Palace, notably being part of the 1990 FA Cup finalist team that eventually lost to Manchester United at Wembley.
On his move, he explained: “We were driving up the motorway to sign for Everton in ’96. They’d got everything organised, so we drove up. Joe Royle’s wife wasn’t there as she was quite poorly at the time, the chairman was away on business so it was just the director there to do the deal.
“My agent said before we say anything, Leeds have matched the bid, it’s in Nigel’s interest to speak to them as well. The director said ‘oh, well come in’. He said ‘well I thought you were coming to sign’ and we said, ‘well so did we but this has happened’. He said, let me make a call.’”
