Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink says he got 'goose bumps' when he first saw Elland Road when he signed for Leeds United in 1997. Hasselbaink signed for the Whites from Boavista for a fee in the region of £2million.
The striker went on to score 35 goals in 79 appearances at Leeds, and he shared the Premier League golden boot with Michael Owen and Dwight Yorke after bagging 18 goals in 1998/99 season, even though he initially struggled to find the back of the net after joining the club.
Although he would later to go on to play for Chelsea, Middlesbrough and Charlton Athletic - Leeds gave Hasselbaink his first taste of English football and he was blown away by the size of Elland Road upon his arrival in Yorkshire.
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"Leeds was, and is, a big club," Hasselbaink told Kammy and Ben's Proper Football Podcast. "For me, two years before that I was playing non-league football, so to have them interested in me was a massive thing.
"I remember arriving at Leeds Bradford Airport, driving to the stadium and seeing that one big stand. I'd never seen that before. I got goose bumps.
"In Portugal, you have big clubs like Benfica, Sporting and Porto, and you play in big stadiums, but it is different in England. The majority of the stadiums are where people live. You drive in, you see houses and then you see a big, massive stand.
"It's difficult to explain, but it was unreal. To go into the stadium for the first time, to sign the contract, to be signed by George Graham as well who had won the league. He said to me 'Jimmy, I think you can be as a good as Ian Wright'. It was massive."
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