Leeds United may soon be back in the Premier League.

The Whites are seven points clear of third place at the top of the Championship and a top-flight return is beckoning.

Once United do get back to English football’s top table they may be tempted to go on a bit of a spending spree. After all, you do get one hell of a cash injection upon promotion, but if they do choose to spend big in the summer, they need to make sure they get it right.

Of course, Leeds are no strangers to splashing big bucks. Back in the early 2000s they were one of the most outlandish spenders in the country, but they didn’t always do it properly.

Coming off the back of an impressive 2000/01 season where they reached a Champions League semi-final, Leeds knew that if they added that little bit more quality they’d be able to challenge for some major silverware.

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So what do Leeds do? They signed one of the country’s top attackers, bringing in Robbie Fowler.

The striker was just 26 at the time, and he’d already played 330 games for Liverpool, scoring 171 goals in the process.

This was the man to lead the line for United for years to come - he was a proven commodity in the prime of his career - but at Leeds, it just didn’t work out for him.

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Don’t get us wrong, he wasn’t the worst player to ever play at Elland Road, and a record of 14 goals in 31 league games is actually quite good, but when you’re paying £11m in 2001 (£39.2m in today’s money according to the transfer inflation calculator), you expect a player who can really bring the team to a new level.

Instead, he didn’t play all that much due to injury and was one of the first out the door when Leeds’ financial crisis became apparent.

The issues that plagued the striker and his club may have been out of his hands, but this has to go down as one of the most disappointing signings Leeds ever made. It was meant to push the club to a higher level, but ended up being a symptom of their demise.

Fowler may go down as an all-time Premier League great, but his time at Leeds was ultimately a disappointment.

In other news, one man looks ready to be Leeds’ unsung hero in the Premier League.