Leeds could lure me back - Dacourt
Roma midfielder Oliver Dacourt admits if Leeds were to get back into the Premiership he would be tempted by a move back to Elland Road despite leaving the club in controversial circumstances.
The 30-year-old France international was shipped out on loan to the Serie A giants in January 2003 after falling out with the then Leeds manager Terry Venables.
The midfield enforcer, who moved to the club in 2000, was fined for his criticism of Venables and publicly made it known that he was unsettled.
Roma sealed the deal on a permanent basis in July of the same year for £3.5million and although Dacourt is happy in Italy he has revealed how his time at Leeds has given him some of his best footballing memories and insists he still loves the English game.
“I still love Leeds,” said Dacourt at Lucas Radebe’s testimonial.
“We were a big club and everything was there. It was the best team I have played for because the standard was fantastic.
“I have not been back to Leeds since I left so it was good to come back because when I left I didn’t have the time to say thank you to the fans. I had three very good years at Leeds but for some reason and everybody knows, I left.”
“At the moment I do not want to come back to England but you never know in life. My life in Italy is beautiful. If Leeds get back into the Premiership maybe I will come back.
“The most difficult league is the Italian League but the beautiful league is England, the spirit of the fans is unbelievable. You can play in the third division and the stadiums are full – it’s the country of football England!”
In his first season with Leeds Dacourt helped steer the team into the semi-finals of the Champions League, where they lost 3-0 on aggregate to Valencia, and to a third-place finish in the league.
But things started to go wrong for him when former manager David O’Leary was sacked the following season, having failed to qualify for the Champions league, and the Frenchman never settled with Venables.
“The Champions League was great. We could have gone to the final but we will never know. That whole thing was unbelievable. I have never played in a club with such spirit and that was why we did so well,” added the former Everton and Lens player.
“The best thing to know is that when you are playing not too bad people can say many bad things about you, but in the end what comes around goes around.”
Dacourt also feels sad to see Leeds where they are now in the Coca-Cola Championship.
“Five years ago you would never have thought of Leeds in the first division [Championship]. It wasn’t imaginable because we had all the best young players in the country and we had all the money so it’s crazy,” he said.
