Seth Johnson: I wasn't even there for those Leeds contract negotiations

Mention Seth Johnson's name to anyone and they'll almost certainly tell the same story about his contract at Leeds United.

Legend has it that Johnson, earning around £5,000 a week in Derby County, entered negotiations with Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale, hoping for a raise to around £13,000 a week .

Ridsdale, however, offered £30,000, then immediately increased that to £37,000 when his opening bet was met with stunned silence.

Ridsdale dismissed it as a myth in 2007, insisting Johnson was earning "at least £10,000 a week less" than had been speculated in the press, but the myth stuck.

We spoke to Johnson to find out what really happened.

"People don't know the story," says Johnson. "When they talked about negotiations for the contract, I wasn't even there. The contract had nothing to do with me.

"I remember being at the house when everything was settled. I had agreed to go, but my agent called me and told me about the case.

"It wasn't money driven for me. I had had a good two years at Derby and had just signed a new contract so I still had decent money, but Derby was bottom of the league at the time, Leeds were close to the top, I knew a lot of guys there, and Derby decided to sell me because they wanted the money."

Talking to Johnson, it's clear that it hurts that the story persists. He says four times in total that the move was not motivated by money, but it is suspected that he has little hope that the myth will die out anytime soon. "It's just one of those things," he sighs.

The myth might not have taken on such prominence had it not been for the fact that Johnson's four years at Elland Road went so badly.

He made just 59 appearances, injury after injury, and after finally regaining his fitness, he found himself crippled as one more appearance would trigger an extra payment to Derby that Leeds could not afford.

"I had been in shape for a while, and I didn't know about my contract," Johnson said. “I got a lot of batting from Ken Bates in the press, but I never even met the guy. He didn't know anything about me as a person, so that wasn't nice.

"I was desperate to go to Leeds and do well. They were flying high at the time, and I was starting to get a decent reputation for myself, but I kept falling apart with different injuries.

"I had never really been injured before, but I think I had seven or eight operations in four years. It was just a nightmare, I never got to start a series of games.

"It was a tough time but it's just one of those things, you can't have it all your way. When I was fit I loved being there. Guys and staff were awesome.

"Part of the reason I went there was because I knew most of the England Under-21 lads and played with the full squad the year before, so that was a good decision for me at the time, but it didn't work "it doesn't work."

Johnson's career only seemed to go in one direction before joining Leeds. He had broken into Crewe Alexandra's side aged 17 and had made over 100 appearances by the time he moved to Derby for £3million aged 20 in 1999. /p>

Johnson had turned down Derby a few months earlier because Crewe was struggling at the bottom of the second tier and "he didn't want to leave with us in so much trouble", according to Dario Gradi.

"He stayed and endeared himself to Crewe fans forever with that gesture," Gradi has since said. "That was typical of him as a guy."

That story certainly runs counter to his contract story at Leeds, as does the fact that he dumped Liverpool in favor of Derby after staying and helping Crewe survive this season.

"I would hardly have played at Liverpool," says Johnson. "I wanted to go play...