Premiership: Ridsdale's Bridge over troubled water
Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale has reassured his Southampton counterpart Rupert Lowe that the Elland Road club are not mounting a £4m bid for highly-rated Saints defender Wayne Bridge.
The England Under-21 star, who is away with David Platt’s squad preparing for Friday’s clash with Greece U21s at Ewood Park, is the latest Southampton star to be linked with a big-money move away from the St Mary’s Stadium.
The highly-publicised transfer saga of £8.1m centre-back Dean Richards’ move to Tottenham angered Lowe - and he is clearly unimpressed by media claims that Leeds boss David O’Leary is keen on 21-year-old Bridge, who was last season’s Saints player of the year.
Lowe said: "I spoke directly to Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale when I saw the reports, and he made it clear they were not looking to sign Wayne Bridge.
"We have a good relationship with Leeds, and if they had been interested in signing one of our players they would have contacted me, rather than conduct it through the newspapers."
One club Southampton certainly do not have a good relationship with is Spurs.
After Glenn Hoddle’s defection to White Hart Lane in April and his raid for Richards last month, there is plenty of bitterness between the Barclaycard Premiership rivals.
Lowe, speaking in the wake of Monday’s 1-0 reserves victory against Tottenham’s second string, could not resist a dig at the club he famously branded "north London yobbos" after Hoddle’s departure.
He said he was impressed with the 8,568 crowd that took advantage of free admission to the south coast side’s new £32m home.
Lowe said: "It was a superb turnout for a reserve match and a nice result as well."
