£5m summer target explains dramatic Leeds United transfer snub amid 'disappointing' admission

Nadiem Amiri has hit back at media reports surrounding his prospective move to Leeds United last summer, citing ‘family reasons’ for his decision to turn down an offer.

Leeds’ summer search for a No.10 led them to Amiri and a £5million fee was quickly agreed with Bayer Leverkusen, who did not see a future for their midfielder. Having flown to England for talks with Daniel Farke, following the 4-3 win over Ipswich Town, and spent time at Elland Road, it was expected that the deal would progress but it fell through instead.

Pictures of Amiri walking through the city centre surfaced after Leeds, who paid for the flight from Germany, refused to cover the return journey, leaving the Leverkusen man to find his own way home. The 27-year-old barely featured for Leverkusen before joining Mainz on loan in January, and has now opened up on the transfer saga.

“Leeds really wanted me,” Amiri told German outlet Watson. “They made me a brutal offer and asked me to just take a look at everything on site. But I couldn’t really imagine it, especially for family reasons,” he said.

“When I was there, I was supposed to sign straight away that day, even though it wasn’t agreed upon. A lot of what you read in the media afterwards wasn’t true. There was not back and forth with the acceptances and rejections, I was clear about that from the start.

“It was disappointing that afterwards everyone thought I was the bogeyman – it shows that there is a lot going on behind the scenes that the public doesn’t even notice, and in the business, people sometimes forget that we are people and not commodities.”

After failing to land Amiri at the end of August, Leeds opted against signing a No.10 with summer arrival Joel Piroe initially deployed behind Georginio Rutter. Farke was often questioned on that decision as the pair swapped roles throughout games, but the Whites enjoyed a good spell of initial success with the pair.

The return to fitness of Patrick Bamford saw Rutter drop into what now looks to be his natural role behind the striker. The French under-21 international has been sensational this season, registering an outstanding six goals and 16 assists in the league. Since moving to Mainz, Amiri has one goal and two assists in 10 appearances.