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Leeds United 2 Crystal Palace 1: I am not being greedy, I just want to be treated as an equal, says Johnson
BRADLEY JOHNSON has vehemently denied talks over a new contract at Leeds United have stalled due to greed on his part.
The United midfielder, who last month turned down the offer of a new deal, is one of several first-team players in the final year of his contract at Elland Road.
It means that come the New Year Johnson will be able to speak to other clubs about a possible free transfer in the summer with Hull City having already signalled their interest by approaching Leeds over a possible swap deal.
That was flatly turned down according to chairman Ken Bates, who criticised the 23-year-old in his programme notes for Saturday's game against Crystal Palace.
The mood of supporters has also turned against Johnson in recent weeks, leading to the midfielder being jeered on being substituted during the 2-1 win over the Eagles and subjected to chants accusing him of being greedy.
Johnson, however, refutes the charge and insists he does still want to remain at Elland Road.
He said: "The booing was hard for me to take. I love the club, I love the fans and I want to be here.
"There has been a breakdown in communications with my contract and I want to get it sorted.
"It is not me being greedy or anything, but I just want to be treated as an equal. I want to stay here.
"When I came, I said I wanted to get Leeds out of League One and I have done that. Now I want to get them into the Premier League and, hopefully, we can sort something out as I want to be here."
In his programme notes ahead of the Palace game, Bates warned Johnson that the current state of football finances meant he was unlikely to secure the size of deal he wants.
The Leeds chairman wrote: "Just down the road, Sheffield United have announced an 18.6m loss and a raft of cost-cutting measures to balance the books including player sales and slashing the players' wage bill.
"This does not augur well for Bradley Johnson, whose agent turned down a considerable wage increase as it fell short of his expectations.
"If selected to play, Bradley must be on top form to impress any potential future employers but whether they have the money to meet his demands remains to be seen.
"We had an approach from Hull City, who wanted to do a player exchange because they have no money.
"But Simon (Grayson) doesn't fancy any of their overpaid squad. It is tough out there and it is going to get tougher."
Johnson joined Leeds in January 2008 for 200,000 from Northampton Town and has since made 113 appearances in all competitions and scored 12 goals.
He said: "I am not being big-headed but I have helped get the club to where they are.
"I love the club, I love the fans and I love the boys. I go in every day training with them with a smile on my face. They are a great bunch of lads and I want to be here with them.
"They all want me to sign. Every day they are asking me what is happening, but it is down to my agent and the club and hopefully it can be sorted.
"I don't know when it is going to get sorted but I want to be here and will wait as long as it takes to get it sorted."
Johnson is one of many Leeds players in the final year of their contracts with Saturday's two-goal hero Luciano Becchio and Neil Kilkenny also among those to have reached a stalemate over possible new deals.
With the memory of Jermaine Beckford, who scored for Everton in a 1-1 draw at Chelsea over the weekend, leaving on a free transfer last summer still fresh it means United are likely have some big decisions to make in January as to whether to sell one or more of their key performers.
Manager Grayson said: "It is a scenario like Beckford. We will dictate what we do with these players.
"We will sell them if we get the right money or the right opportunity, or we will run the risk of them leaving on a free. We turned down good money for Jermaine and he got us promoted.
"If the three out of contract players don't sign contracts, we get promoted and they go off to other clubs then fair play on their part.
"But there aren't too many bigger clubs than Leeds United and, hopefully, players won't leave because of short-sightedness rather than taking a long-term view.
"We took Luciano from the Spanish second division and other players have come from lower divisions.
"We have put them on the map, made them better players and we want to keep them.
"There has to be a certain amount of loyalty, not just leaving football clubs for money."
On Johnson, Grayson added: "There is an offer on the table that he has declined and we won't be improving that.
"He has not played at home since he turned down the contract offer and I suppose when you do turn down a contract offer, you leave yourself open to criticism.
"Jermaine Beckford had this situation last season and he won the supporters over."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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