Former Leeds United goalkeeper Marco Silvestri has alleged that former Whites owner Massimo Cellino personally froze him out of the squad after he spoke to an English agent.
In his three years at Leeds after moving to England in 2014 from Cagliari, another club owned by Cellino at the time, Silvestri amassed 98 appearances for the Whites first team, keeping 23 clean sheets.
Despite looking back on his time at Leeds fondly, Silvestri highlighted one particular decision by Cellino that saw him left on the substitute bench for the entire 2016/17 season even though he'd been the starting goalkeeper over his first two seasons.
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"In the first six months at Cagliari, Cellino was crazy for me. In fact, he brought me to Leeds," the 31-year-old told Football Italia.
"He adored me and I was the regular starter in the first two seasons in England. Then things changed for a decision which made no sense. He got the wrong idea about me. He froze me out of the team and signed another goalkeeper, Rob Green, who had great experience in England.
"Then he reintroduced me to the team, but I was the second-choice 'keeper. I only played cup games, but at least I got some satisfaction. We reached the League Cup quarter-finals, playing against Liverpool at Anfield.
"I was named the best goalkeeper in the competition that season, it was a great satisfaction even if I was not the right person to sit on the bench."
In 2017, Silvestri left for Serie A side Hellas Verona where he spent four years before moving to Udinese where he currently plays his football.
In that League Cup run, Silvestri had saved three penalties in the fourth-round shootout against Norwich and recalled the moment Cellino suddenly 'flipped the switch' and wanted him out of the squad.
"It was an off-the-pitch issue, it made no sense. I had spoken to an English agent because it was my third year in England, I was young and I wanted to sound out potential opportunities.
"We only spoke, I didn’t sign anything, I didn’t talk about transfers. This agent was interested in following me and we only talked to each other. Cellino knew it and got mad.
"When I explained the situation, it was too late. I don’t know if he ever understood it, but life goes on."
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