Former Leeds United striker, Noel Whelan, has claimed that Vurnon Anita will have taken a pay cut to leave the Whites.

Whelan has claimed the Dutchman will have had to have taken a hit to his earnings, after agreeing to terminate his contract at the club on Monday.

Anita had a contract that lasted until next summer, meaning that Leeds would have most likely had to pay the versatile player a significant sum to cancel his contract.

Having spent last season on loan in the Netherlands at Dutch club Willem II, the former Newcastle defender is now a free agent.

Speaking to Football Insider, Whelan said: "He has probably taken a pay cut to leave.

"Leeds won’t have paid him for the entirety of his contract. The club will have given him a percentage of what he would have earned and he will hope to make up the remainder at a new club.

"When you are not playing you cannot be happy at a club, you just can’t. Every footballer needs to be playing to be truly happy. Sometimes you just need to work out a compromise.

"It’s good for him and good for Leeds because they both need to move on. It’s a mature decision by both parties involved."

The Verdict

It was important that Leeds United were able to get rid of some of the deadwood in this window. Marcelo Bielsa clearly has no plans for Anita in his side, so it's a justified decision to terminate his contract.

It will be interesting to see whether it comes out about how much Leeds had to pay the player, but either way the club are better off without him there.

They'll be hoping a few of their youngsters can now come through and help out a pretty thin Leeds United squad.