Back in the Peter Ridsdale era, Leeds United set their sights on all manner of players from across the Premier League and continental Europe.
Some of the deals came off, with the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Robbie Keane making a success of big-money moves to Elland Road, but things didn’t always go to plan.
Most notably, the club was in the running to buy a young Frank Lampard from West Ham before he opted for Chelsea.
However, there was another midfield target who doesn’t get talked about quite as much these days, one-time Dutch international captain Mark van Bommel.
Back in February 2002, with recent signing Seth Johnson sidelined through injury for the first of what would be many times, Van Bommel’s name was floated in connection with the Yorkshire club.
The PSV Eindhoven man wasn’t yet the player he would become at Bayern Munich, still finding his way as an all-round midfielder who chipped in with a fair few goals.
As a result, he was already in high demand at the age of 24, and became even more visible when he scored for the Netherlands against England in a win at White Hart Lane in August 2001.
In addition to this, he was getting ready to face Leeds in the UEFA Cup, having scored PSV’s final goal against PAOK in the previous round.
So there were plenty of reasons for David O’Leary’s team to be interested in van Bommel, but the feeling wasn’t mutual, as the player made clear in the run-up to the Leeds game.
In comments likely to have antagonised a fair few United fans, van Bommel said: "Leeds are not big enough for me. I want a team who will always be in the Champions League.
“I want to play in the Premiership, that is my aim and this is my big chance to prove I am good enough. In fact, these are probably the two most important games of my season. I have to impress if I am going to earn a big contract."
And van Bommel was true to his word, playing his part as PSV edged a tight two-leg tie thanks to Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink’s late goal at Elland Road.
Having reached the Champions League semi-finals the previous season, Leeds were out of Europe altogether, and facing an uphill battle to return to continental competition in 2002/03.
The PSV defeat came in the middle of a devastating Premier League run, seven winless games which essentially ended their chances of returning to Europe’s top table the following season.
A late rally wasn’t enough for them to make up the required ground on fourth-placed Newcastle and, after saving their money by waiting until the summer to bring in midfield reinforcements, the club’s financial situation worsened.
The summer of 2002 saw Leeds part ways with Ferdinand and Keane, while the two arrivals were considerably more cut-price than some had hoped. Nick Barmby was the only man to arrive for a fee, while the midfield gap was filled by Australia international Paul Okon, several years Van Bommel’s senior.
Joining up at Leeds with his former Socceroos boss Terry Venables, who had replaced O’Leary in the Elland Road dugout, Okon played 21 league and cup games without finding the net, and moved on to Vicenza at the end of the season.
By then, van Bommel was coming off the back of a nine-goal season which helped PSV win the Eredivisie by a single point.
But one cannot help wondering what might have happened if van Bommel had deemed Leeds a big enough club to fulfil his expectations, even if just for a season or two.
