'I saved them' - Rio Ferdinand questions why he is still unpopular among Leeds United supporters

Former Leeds United defender Rio Ferdinand says he still doesn't understand why Whites supporters don't like him, claiming that he saved the club from going extinct.

On Vibe with Five, Ferdinand said there are similarities between what is currently happening at Barcelona, and what happened at Leeds when they were relegated and faced great financial difficulties in 2004. Ferdinand left Leeds to join Manchester United in 2002 to become the most expensive British footballer in history at the time.

Barcelona confirmed the signing of former Leeds winger Raphinha last week, with the Brazilian joining the La Liga club for a fee understood to be in the region of £55 million.

The Raphinha transfer saga dragged on for many weeks, with confusion as to how Barcelona would pay the fee being due to having financial problems.

“I think there are similarities in that sense, but I don’t know too many of the final details and the running of the football club at Leeds, but they were spending more than what was coming in,” said Ferdinand.

“That was Leeds’ problem. That’s why you saw the fire sale for the likes of myself, followed by Robbie Keane, (Jonathan) Woodgate and other players. Loads had to go to foot the bill of the football club at the end of the day and to save the club.

“That’s why I don’t understand why Leeds fans still don’t like me because I actually saved them from going extinct. They are details that will come out in the washing in due course, with this financial situation at Barcelona.”