Dominic Matteo names players Leeds will lose if relegated from Premier League

Dominic Matteo knows what it feels like when the hurricane of relegation rips through a club.

He was part of the firesale when Leeds last went down in 2004 and offloaded their best players to slash costs. Matteo was sold to Blackburn, even though he wanted to stay, and was followed through the Elland Road exit by stars like Alan Smith, Mark Viduka, Paul Robinson, James Milner and Danny Mills.

Matteo fears Leeds could lose their biggest names if they don’t beat the drop on Sunday and they must better Burnley ’s result or their two-year stint in the Premier League will be over. Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips are attracting interest from the likes of Barcelona and Manchester City respectively and Matteo says they could go if Leeds are relegated.

The former Leeds captain told Mirror Sport: “If you’re being realistic, it could happen. You have to be realistic, if they were to go down or even if they stayed up in 17th, would a top player be happy with that? Regardless of whether Leeds stay up or not, they could lose players. That’s the nature of the beast. I’m sure there are other clubs interested in their best players because they’ve got some good talent there, even among the young players. If they were to lose Raphinha and Phillips, would more follow? That’s what happened in my era.”

Leeds face Brentford away tomorrow while Burnley are at home to Newcastle and Matteo says the tension will be unbearable for Jesse Marsch’s players. He still remembers the anxiety he felt before beating Arsenal in 2003 to stay up, although it only postponed their fate for 12 months. “We were lucky to get out of it in 2003 with that late goal at Highbury,” he said. “That was a very similar feeling to what the players are going through at the