Leeds United insist they will not sell striker Alan Smith despite their chronic financial difficulties.
“Alan Smith is not for sale,” spokesman Don Warters said, though he would not comment on whether wages would be deferred or other players sold.
Smith’s departure was regarded as an inevitability following the club’s failure to meet Monday’s dealine for raising fresh funds. The club were left with few options after creditors rejected a £5m offer from a consortium put together by former deputy chairman Allan Leighton. Moreover, the players refusal to accept an immediate pay deferral led to fears that the club would have to sell the striker to raise the funds to avert the threat of administration.
However, Tottenham Hotspur are reported to have bid £5m for goalkeeper Paul Robinson and Norway midfielder Eirik Bakke – a figure which would ensure the club would continue trading until the end of the season. Such a deal would ease the pressure on the struggling Premier League club and enable them to retain the services of Smith until the end of the season.
The club have been given a week-long extension of the deadline to reach a deal with creditors, who are owed £80m.
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