Seth Johnson opens up over those Leeds United contract negotiations

Johnson, who made the move to Leeds in November 2000, has rebuffed the claims that he was even present for talks ahead of his transfer to West Yorkshire from the Rams.

As the story goes, the midfielder wanted an increase on his £5,000 a week salary at Derby with chairman Ridsdale eventually stumping up a £37,000 a week deal following stunned silence at his original £30,000 offer - but it's something though that Johnson says he wasn't even aware of leaving all of the off-field side of things to his agent.

“People don’t know the story,” Johnson told Planet Football. “When they talk about negotiations for the contract, I wasn’t even there. The contract had nothing to do with me.

“I remember being at home when it got sorted. I’d agreed to go, but my agent rung me up and told me about the deal.

“It wasn’t motivated by money for me. I’d had a good couple of years at Derby and just signed a new deal so I was on decent money anyway, but Derby were bottom of the league at the time, Leeds were near the top, I knew a lot of the lads there, and Derby decided to sell me because they wanted the money.”

Former Whites chairman Ridsdale also denied the story but did concede Johnson had recieved a significant rise in his weekly wage following his move, telling The Guardian: "(Johnson) was on at least £10,000-a-week less when he joined than has been rumoured in the press."

The midfielder went on to make just 59 appearances for the club during his spell in LS11 after a number of injuries resulted in his release in August 2005 bringing a disappointed chapter in his career to an end.