Source: SKY_Sports
Swann - City switch not about money
The father of one of the two youngsters who quit Leeds over the summer to join Manchester City says money was not behind the decision to switch clubs.
George Swann departed Leeds' Academy during the close season along with 14-year-old Louis Hutton, transfers that are likely to require a tribunal after the Whites rejected City's £70,000 offer.
Swann's dad Peter, who played for Leeds for five years in the early 1980s, claims cutbacks in Leeds' investment in youth are to blame following their fall from grace following the turn of the century.
Premier League clubs signing youngsters, especially from abroad, is currently high on Fifa's agenda after Chelsea were found guilty of inducing Gael Kakuta to break his contract with Lens to join the club.
"The next two years are vital and will probably make or break whether he has a professional career in the game," Swann snr told the Yorkshire Post.
"The straw that broke the camel's back came one night at home about six or seven months ago. I was in the other room but overheard George talking to his mum in the kitchen.
"He basically said 'Mum, I am not happy at the Academy and don't feel to be learning anything'. I went into the kitchen and asked him what was going on.
"He hadn't wanted to tell me because I played for Leeds and know many of the people involved at Thorp Arch.
"But having signed at the age of nine when it was a Premier League set-up, George felt it had declined. He feels the coaching is not what it was and that there has been too much staff turnover.
"People may point the finger at George, Louis, Luke Garbutt or the two lads (Michael Woods and Tom Taiwo) who went to Chelsea, but they are missing the point.
"Leeds are a massive club but I don't think they think big enough when it comes to the Academy.
"Young lads are starting to leave and you have to ask why. Other parents are concerned as well but are too scared to say anything in case it jeopardises their kid's future.
"If Leeds are to get back to where we all know they belong, something will have to be done. More funding has to be put in."
Swann insists his son was gutted to leave Leeds and he denies that financial reasons were behind his decision to join the cash-rich Eastlands outfit.
"My boy was in tears when he left Leeds," he continued. "He even said on the day he signed for City that he still wanted to play for Leeds one day.
"But he said City just feels right. If I had been in his shoes, I might have chosen elsewhere because in my career I made sure that each move was right for me financially. But George opted for City even though there was no money in it."
