Dinamo Zagreb midfielder Dejan Ljubicic has said a move to Leeds United was close in the past but eventually blocked.
[Kronen Zeitung](https://www.krone.at/) have comments from the 27-year-old today in which he admits he could have ended up at Leeds if things had gone differently.
Ljubicic joined Zagreb this month on a free transfer after leaving Koln following a four-year spell with the German side. He also joined them on a free transfer in 2021 after previously coming up through the ranks in Austria with Rapid Youth, Rapid Wien II then Rapid Vienna.
He’s aiming to help Dinamo return to former glories after experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions during his four year stay in Cologne.
The player was close to an exit from the club on several occasions before Koln intervened and stopped him from departing. One such occasion saw Leeds come calling, according to Ljubicic.
_“I’d already gone a long way with Wolfsburg and later Leeds. But they didn’t want to let me go,”_ he said.
That was particularly bitter for the midfielder, who found himself out of the picture at the club when Gerhard Struber was sacked.
He failed to play a single minute of football after that and had to watch from the sidelines as they celebrated promotion back to the Bundesliga.
Things could have been happier for him at Leeds, Wolfsburg or elsewhere, but he doesn’t have bad feelings.
_“I’m sure we could have done it with Struber, too. But there’s no bad blood,”_ he added.
_“I had a great time here; I matured as a footballer. It was a privilege to play for this club. The fans and the team were fantastic.”_