Premiership: O'Leary defends spending spree

Leeds boss David O'Leary has defended his transfer spending spree after taking his outlay to £86m during his three years in charge.

Seth Johnson is just the latest addition at a cost of £9m, with £2m relating to appearances, plus the prospect of two further signings to follow possibly prior to Christmas.

With O'Leary having earmarked the players he wants, the £100m barrier is in sight, but O'Leary said: "Everybody says we've spent a lot of money on players.

"But I think the players we've bought in are now worth a lot more. We always try to spend well, so I don't think the spending's too much."

O'Leary is convinced Johnson will be another player whose value will increase while at Leeds, particularly with the prospect of the 22-year-old joining Rio Ferdinand, Nigel Martyn, Danny Mills and Alan Smith in the England ranks.

Johnson has been a regular at Under-21 level, and so far has just one full cap to his credit, winning that for his substitute appearance in the friendly against Italy last November.

O'Leary, though, feels Johnson has the potential to become an international regular as he added: "We've paid a good price for Seth. He's a nice, young, hungry player who I'm delighted to get and hopefully we can push him on to England."

Johnson signed his five-year deal on the pitch - to the delight of the 40,000 Elland Road crowd - at half-time in Thursday night's enthralling Uefa Cup second-round tie against Troyes.

Watching from the directors' box, Johnson was given a breathtaking introduction to life at Leeds as O'Leary's side were cruising at 2-0 and 4-1 in this first leg, only to let Patrice Loko give Troyes a lifeline for the return.