' Becchio lifts lid on exit and Warnock issues '

Former Leeds United striker Becchio lifts lid on exit and Warnock issues

By Graham Smeaton


Tuesday Apr 14, 2020


Leeds United fans will always have a very soft spot in their heart for Luciano Becchio, the Argentinian striker who joined the Whites from Spanish side Merida after a successful trial. He gelled instantly with fellow striker Jermaine Beckford, as well as the fans. There were tears when he left. Speaking to Phil Hay of The Athletic, Becchio gives an insight into his leaving and dealings with Neil Warnock.

After arriving from Merida, Bechhio’s impact on Leeds United’s 2008/09 League One campaign was instantaneous with the Argentinian scoring 15 goals (one assist) in his first season of English football. Those 15 goals haled to form a 42-goal league partnership with Jermaine Beckford (27 goals) and it was a partnership that continued to prove fruitful.

The following season it was another 42-goal league partnership in the same proportions (Becchio 15; Beckford 27). The season after, the 2010/11 campaign, saw the partnership broken with Beckford’s move to Everton but Beccio (19 goals/nine assists) continued to hit the back of the net as he did the season after (11 goals) and in 2012/13 (his final campaign with the Whites) when he hit 16 goals by New Year’s Day. What followed was a move to Premier League Norwich and that is something he opens up about in the Hay article.



Speaking about the incidents, Becchio is very clear that leaving Elland Road was not a part of his plans. He’s adamant about this when telling Hay: “I never wanted to leave Leeds. I would have liked to have finished my career there. I’d received some very important offers from other clubs but I wanted to stay.” However, eventually leave he did and some of his comments to Phil Hay’s promptings reveal just why that parting of ways came about.

After commenting that he rejected an offer from Bundesliga side Cologne when he extended his deal in 2010, Becchio then added that his feelings this time were somewhat clouded and different. He was at pains to point this out saying: “This time it was different. I didn’t feel valued, I didn’t see any effort to retain me and on top of that I had a coach who didn’t speak to me to tell me if he wanted me to stay.”




With this lack of communication pushing him towards an Elland Road exit, Becchio still sought avenues to stay with the Whites and arranged a meeting with Warnock. There was little joy from this with Becchio saying: “We met but I didn’t get much of a response from him. I honestly don’t know if it was the coach’s wish for me to leave or if the club wanted to cash in on me. In the end, my family and I made a super-difficult decision.”

Warnock later released a book in which he said that Becchio’s efforts in a 2-0 loss to Barnsley basically made up his mind about the striker and his time at Leeds with the then-Leeds boss thinking that such effort would be used by the Argentinian to lever a move from the club. Becchio stresses this wasn’t the case, adding: “I would never go against the club I love or the club who gave me the opportunity to continue growing.”




Yet, leave he did and suffered a torrid time at Norwich. However, his leaving hasn’t diminished the relationship he has with Leeds United, nor the fans relationship they have with him.

Reminder: the quotations are from Phil Hay’s article on The Athletic. It seriously is a fantastic read and can be found here if you are a subscriber.

I know Luciano Becchio quite well as he had been playing for Atleico Baleares then went on to become a coach here.

His family live in Mallorca.

I have had numerous chats with him and he seems a very genuine person.

Becchio was a decent player and the sort who always used to worry me when I saw they were in the opposition team.

Am I right in thinking that Warnock was Leeds manager when we won 1-0 up there with Fraiser Campbell scoring in his first game for us?

I seem to remember Warnock leaving the pitch with a face like thunder whilst we were all going mad!