Whenever Sky Sports do their ‘Best foreign players to play in the Premier League’ show, one player who features highly on the list as it counts down to #1 is Lucas Radebe, the man Leeds United fans simply called ‘The Chief’. It’s hard to believe that it’s 21 years to day that he signed for the club.
However, with this Tweet from his official Twitter account, the man they still call ‘The Chief’ at Elland Road reminded the Whites fans that might have forgotten.
21 years ago today I signed for @LUFC Turn back the clock, and I would do the same thing again #MOT pic.twitter.com/lhsOXHyoX9
— Lucas Radebe (@LucasRadebe) September 5, 2015
Lucas Valeriu Ntuba Radebe rose to prominence playing for South African side Kaiser Chiefs before the move to Yorkshire where he made 197 Premier League appearances for Leeds United in a career that spanned nine years. Radebe went on to captain both Leeds United and South Africa, most notably during the 2002 World Cup. What is interesting is that the man from Soweto’s slums, who became a legend in the colours of Leeds United was originally a makeweight in a transfer fee. A transfer fee of £250,000 was agreed for Radebe and another South African football Philemon Masinga, with the latter being seen as the more valuable and Radebe being only part of the deal to keep Masinga happy.
Radebe struggled to make an impact at first as injuries and ‘disagreements’ with then manager Howard Wilkinson took their toll and he had very little consistent playing time. However, with George Graham replacing Wilkinson, Radebe saw more game time and flourished in the centre of a Leeds United defence in an excellent Leeds United team. It was Radebe’s consistency and athleticism that enamoured him to Leeds United fans’ hearts and this was certainly helped by a more recent disclosure on a South African talk show that he’d turned down a move to arch rivals Manchester United saying that he could never play for the Manchester side and that his heart was always with Leeds. In fact, such was his success at Leeds United during that period of time that he not only turned down Manchester United but also Italian giants Roma and AC Milan. At this point in his career, Radebe was that highly thought of that Manchester United’s legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson declared that, “Everyone should be interested in Lucas.”
Radebe has revisited Leeds on a couple of occasions, a place that he still holds dear, and has been welcomed raucously each time. This will continue every time because Lucas Radebe is a player that Leeds United fans hold close to their hearts; one of the modern greats of the club will always be made to feel welcome whenever he revisits Leeds United.
