19-goal ex-Leeds United striker reveals big Chris Wood disappointment and Birmingham City transfer offer
The Italian striker spent one year playing alongside Chris Wood at Leeds United.
Former Leeds United striker Mirco Antenucci was denied a dream end to his two-year Whites career by teammate Chris Wood almost a decade ago.
Antenucci enjoyed a short but impressive spell at Elland Road between 2014 and 2016, having arrived as one of 11 summer signings from Italy as then-owner Massimo Cellino attempted to put his identity into the club. The difference in success across that cohort was huge, with club legend Gaetano Berardi joining the likes of Dario Del Fabro and Tommaso Bianchi through the door.
Joining from Serie B outfit Ternana for €800,000, Antenucci was well-liked by fans and much closer towards the Berardi end of that spectrum, having scored 10 goals during his debut campaign in LS11. And that figure might well have been matched the following season if the Italian got his way on the final day.
Antenucci on Wood
“I scored 10 in 2014/15, nine in 2015/16,” Antenucci told Italian YouTube channel Modi (as translated by Andrea Russo on X). “I wanted to reach double figures. The penalty takers were myself and Chris Wood. He was a great penalty taker. He had already scored 12 goals that season.
“In the last game of the season [a 1-1 draw at Preston], we were awarded a penalty. Chris grabbed the ball and didn't want to leave it to me. But we were in front of 4,000 Leeds away fans, so I left the ball to him to take the penalty.
“But I said to Chris, ‘this is not how you do it. I have nine goals, I want the 10th. It's my last game for Leeds’. He had already scored 12, I wanted to leave with double figures. I was very disappointed. If the roles were reversed, I would have given the ball to Chris.”
Antenucci left Leeds after that final-day draw at Preston, with the striker confirming his exit in an emotional post on Instagram at the time. His two-year contract had expired before a free transfer to SPAL in Italy, with the striker now confirming he was just three goals away from a 12-month extension.
Birmingham City offer
“I wanted a three-year contract, but Cellino only offered me two years,” he revealed. “I didn't want to sign that, but we found an agreement for a two-year contract with an option for a third year if I scored at least 12 in the second season.
“In my two seasons with Leeds, we finished mid-table. We were not able to make the next step as a team, but we always had 20-25,000 fans at Elland Road. Leeds is a top club, in a city with a population of over one million and fans basically everywhere. The fans dedicated a chant to me, ‘Antenucci baby’. It motivated me. They nicknamed me ‘Fear the Beard’: I have a tattoo of it on my arm.
“After I left Leeds in 2016, I had offers from Wolverhampton and Birmingham, but because my two daughters were really young I wanted to return to Italy. In the north of England it's practically always rainy and windy.”
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