Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino insists he was forced into selling top scorer Ross McCormack to Fulham because the Scotland star had “disrespected” him.
The £11million deal came less than a week after Cellino had insisted the striker was not for sale.
McCormack, 27, signed a new four-year deal last summer but following a fall-out with Cellino he did not travel with Leeds last week to their training camp in Italy.
That forced the Elland Road chief to accept the massive bid from Championship rivals Fulham and Cellino said: “I like to be in control of situations but it felt like he wasn’t my player. I was disrespected – he was aggressive with me.
“He didn’t turn up for the tour and all the time he wanted to go from here. It wasn’t in my mind to sell McCormack but I had no choice. He’s a bloody good player and I’m not going to pretend that he isn’t but he didn’t respect me. It wasn’t possible to keep him.”
McCormack, who scored 58 goals in 158games for Leeds, responded on his official Instagram account.
He wrote: “New start. Devastated to leave under a cloud after four thoroughly enjoyable years.”
McCormack was the leading scorer in the Championship last term, netting 28 times for a team that finished in a lowly 15th place.
That made him a fans’ favourite but McCormack claimed he had been “hung out to dry” and the club was “no longer the leeds United I fell in love with”.
