Leeds United were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2022/23 campaign after they spent three years in the top-flight of English football.
The Whites failed to escape the drop one year after they sold star midfielder Kalvin Phillips to Manchester City for £45m and Brazil international Raphinha to Barcelona for £55m, with the latter being a club-record fee for the Yorkshire-based outfit.
Comparing those fees to sales from the past, however, does not provide the full context, as football fees have been affected by inflation over the years.
If you adjust for footballing inflation, using the Totally Money index, you could argue that the sale of Rio Ferdinand is the club's most-valuable departure, when they sold him to Manchester United in the summer of 2002.
How much Leeds paid to sign Rio Ferdinand
Per Totally Money, Leeds paid £23.4m to sign the central defender from West Ham United ahead of the 2000/01 campaign, which would be worth £59.7m in 2024 money.
It was a deal that made him the most expensive defender in world football and the most expensive British signing in history at that point – making him a record-breaking signing for the club.
They swooped to sign the Rolls-Royce of a centre-back after he came through the academy set-up with the Hammers to make 149 first-team appearances, and he had already been capped by England.
Ferdinand played 73 matches across two seasons with the Whites and excelled in his second campaign with the club, during the 2001/02 term.
The England international was named in the PFA Team of the Year, alongside the likes of Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, and Robert Pires, for his performances over 31 Premier League games for Leeds.
This shows that his peers viewed him as one of the two best central defenders, alongside Liverpool's Sammi Hyypia, in the English top-flight that term.
How much Leeds sold Rio Ferdinand for
The English colossus' displays in the division convinced Manchester United to swoop in for a fee at the time – per Totally Money – of £41.4m in the summer of 2002.
However, when inflation throughout the years is taken into account, that fee works out as a staggering £158.7m – rounded up to £159m – in 2024 money, which shows that Leeds hit the jackpot when they signed Ferdinand from West Ham two years prior.
They brought in a talented young defender, albeit for a significant fee at the time, and got a Team of the Year worthy season and a mammoth fee for his services from the Red Devils.
Rio Ferdinand to Manchester United
£41.4m
£158.7m
Raphinha to Barcelona
£55m
£55m
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink to Atletico Madrid
£15m
£51.8m
Kalvin Phillips to Manchester City
£45m
£45m
Harry Kewell to Liverpool
£9m
£37.8m
As you can see in the table above, Ferdinand is far and away the most expensive sale in Leeds history when you adjust for footballing inflation, per Totally Money's index.
This suggests that the Whites played a blinder with their decision to make him the most expensive defender in world football when they signed him from the Hammers, given that they then raked in a gigantic fee from their Premier League rivals just two years later.
Therefore, Leeds hit the jackpot with the England international, who went on to play 455 times for the Red Devils, and may hope to repeat that trick in the future if they return to the top-flight and have the chance to splash the cash again.
