Kewell ready to leave Leeds

The Yorkshire club are keen to keep Kewell but now that the player is within the last 12 months of his contract they seem likely to be forced into a sale before the start of the season.

Leeds Chairman John MacKenzie said: "I have already spoken to Harry's agent a few times and we are still very confident of putting a deal together. We hope that Harry will stay.

"I will be looking to meet his agent again next week when I believe we will be in a position to put a new proposal to him.

"We all know what happened to Lee Bowyer and how he was able to walk away for almost nothing and we cannot allow that to happen again."