KEWELL RATED BY RIDSDALE

Ridsdale, speaking in the latest issue of LEEDS, LEEDS, LEEDS magazine, admitted that he would pay what he felt Kewell deserved, despite refusing to bow to the excessive wage demands of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink last summer.

"In Harry Kewell we have a player who has the potential to be one of the greatest. Only two of the existing team, Kewell and Nigel Martyn, were selected in a greatest ever Leeds team recently, a tremendous compliment from judges who have watched United for 30 years.

"There is no problem in my mind in making a player one of the best paid in the UK if he deserves it and has the skill. We would have made Jimmy the best paid player at the club, but the demands he made would not have been fair on the Radebes and Kewells.

"If Harry continues to make the progress he has been, he will be one of the top eight players in the country and we would reward him."

Manager David O`Leary, though, insisted that he still has a long way to go to reach to top of his trade.

"Harry`s still young and the end product will get better, more goals will come. If I can get more goals out of Harry, he can be one of the best in the world.

"The only difference between him and Roma striker Montella, who cost £15 million, is the amount of goals they score, there is no difference in ability."

Kewell`s performance in the Stadio Olimpico in the Uefa Cup fourth round first leg last Thursday is believed to have increased his admirers in Italy, where the player has admitted that he would like to play at some stage in his career.

"We don`t need the Italians to tell us that Harry is quality, but he was wonderful in Rome, he relishes a challenge like that. They close-marked him but he gets that same respect in England."

David Allen

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