Just In: Player Who had promise to join Whites and then private jet dash turned into farce

Former Cagliari midfielder Andrea Tabanelli has revealed how Massimo Cellino promised to buy Leeds United and take him to Elland Road in the process.

The 34-year-old has been speaking to Cagliari News 24 about his career and how it could have taken him to Leeds.

He started his career at Cesena and worked his way up the ranks before moving to Cagliari in January 2014 on loan.

Tabanelli would only manage three appearances for the club, though, instead returning to his parent club and continuing to bounce around various Italian sides before eventually ending up at current club Pol Rena.

His short stint at Cagliari saw him coinciding with Cellino, who was president of the club from June 1992 to June 2014.
As is always the case with the Italian it proved to be something of a mad affair, with the midfielder discovering that he was joining a side full of competition already and that he couldn’t even be registered by his new side.

Cellino, though, had a different plan in mind and that involved the next club who would be under his ownership, Leeds United.

“Cellino bought me at Cagliari,” he said.

“Then he says to me: here I already have Conti, Cossu and Dessena, but I’ll buy Leeds and take you there. We arrive there by private jet, me, him and Festa who has to go to the bench.

“After a minute he has already sacked the coach and sporting director. But he isn’t a 100% owner, they bring up quibbles, the league doesn’t validate the contracts, so he says, ‘stay here and I’ll resolve it’.

“Festa and I stay: a month and a half running in the parks, they don’t even let us enter the training camp.”