It was a summer of huge change for Leeds United, with the 49ers Enterprises finally completing their buy-out of Andrea Radrizzani.
The Italian businessman endured a tough ending to his time at Elland Road, but he was the man in charge when the club finally returned to the Premier League after all their years outside the top-flight.
Prior to that, the unpredictable Massimo Cellino had been running the show, and it produced poor results – and plenty of new signings.
There was no clear plan with recruitment during that period, with new faces regularly arriving and often not delivering as expected.
With that in mind, we took a look at EIGHT Leeds players from the past who we didn’t realise were still playing today
The goalkeeper had two spells at Leeds, with his first coming during the 2011/12 season, where he played regularly, before he returned in 2017 as a backup.
His second spell lasted just a year, with Lonergan subsequently on the books of Middlesbrough, Liverpool, Stoke, West Brom, and most recently Everton.
Now 39, Lonergan, is still in the game with the Toffees, although he is down the pecking order, with Jordan Pickford the number one, and Joao Virginia another option for Sean Dyche.
The centre-back joined the Yorkshire side in 2014, initially on a season-long loan, and he would go on to play two seasons at Leeds. Despite the team struggling, Bellusci generally did okay, even if he was prone to the odd rash moment.
A loan to Empoli saw the defender go back to Italy, and a permanent switch to Palermo followed, ending Bellusci’s time at Elland Road.
Since then, he has remained in the second and third divisions in Italy, with Bellusci, now 34, currently with Ascoli in Serie B.
Scott Wootton
There was a lot of excitement when Leeds signed highly-rated young centre-back Wootton from Manchester United, but he didn’t live up to expectations over the next few years, despite making over 60 appearances for the club.
After leaving Elland Road, the defender went down the leagues, featuring for the likes of MK Dons, Plymouth and Morecambe before he made the bold decision to go to New Zealand to join Wellington Phoenix.
Wootton has been an important figure for the side, who compete in the Australian A-League, since arriving, and the 31-year-old still has two years left on his contract with the club.
Anita joined Leeds with real pedigree as his two previous clubs had been Ajax and Newcastle United, but he failed to make his mark at Elland Road, as he managed just 22 appearances before he was loaned out, with Anita’s contract eventually terminated by mutual consent.
He struggled to reach the same heights as his career went on, featuring for CSKA Sofia and RKC Waalwijk, with Anita making over 100 appearances for the Dutch side over the past few years.
However, he has been on the move this summer, with Anita, now 34, joining Saudi Arabian second division side Al-Orobah.
Another signing that came with a lot of hype, Leeds saw off competition to sign Murphy after his impressive performances for Crewe. And, whilst he would go on to make over 100 appearances for the Whites over a five-year period, Murphy failed to truly impress in what was a difficult spell for the player.
The final 18 months of his time at Elland Road saw him out on loan with Burton Albion, and he secured a permanent switch to Bolton as a free agent in 2018. A return to Crewe followed, and it was the final time he played in the Football League.
That’s because Murphy dropped down the leagues to sign for non-league Macclesfield Town. His first year with the club was a success, as they won promotion to the Northern Premier League. Given their resources, they will be hoping for another promotion, and Murphy will no doubt have a big role to play again this season.
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