Ferdinand's record breaking move - on this day in 2000

It is November 2000.

Ken Livingstone has become the first elected Mayor of London, Big Brother has aired in the UK for the first time, and the last game played at the old Wembley Stadium has just led to Kevin Keegan's resignation as England manager.

Westlife are dominating the charts but would be beaten to Christmas number one by Bob the Builder, Madonna is soon to marry Guy Ritchie, and Leeds United are spending big.

On 25 November 2000, they broke the British transfer record by signing Rio Ferdinand from West Ham for £18m.

The then 22-year-old became the world's most expensive defender and took Leeds' spending in two years under David O'Leary to £64.3m.

In his first season at Elland Road, Ferdinand was part of a side that finished fourth - then the Uefa Cup qualification place - in the Premiership and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Despite a difficult debut in a 3-1 defeat by Leicester, the England international's quality soon shone through and, by the end of the campaign, his impact was such that he was regularly captaining the team in the absence of Lucas Radebe.

There were also big goals. Ferdinand scored in the Champions League quarter-final first-leg win over Deportivo La Coruna, in a big 2-1 league win over Liverpool at Anfield in April 2001, and on his return to Upton Park in a 2-0 victory a week later.

He was given the captain's armband permanently by O'Leary before the 2001-02 season and performed admirably once again as Leeds reached the Uefa Cup last 16 but finished fifth in the league and failed to break back into the Champions League.

However, Ferdinand's spell at Elland Road was as short as it was sweet, with the failure to qualify again for the Champions League finally bringing to the fore the club's perilous financial situation.

In March 2002, Leeds announced pre-tax losses of £13.8m for the final six months of the previous year, with the failed £100m gamble on players in a bid for European success beginning to make the accountants nervous.

By July, Ferdinand had left to join fierce rivals Manchester United for £30m - again breaking the British transfer record and again becoming the world's most expensive defender.

After he was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2023, Ferdinand said he "played some of my best football" at Leeds and revealed he is still in a WhatsApp group with the likes of notable former Whites stars Mark Viduka and Lee Bowyer.

While his move to the Red Devils is still a touchy subject for some, Ferdinand told a BBC podcast in 2023 that knowing there are those who are still angry "wrecks my head".

"I understand the rivalry, but sometimes you've got to understand the situation and the context," he added.

"Unfortunately the club was run a particular way that they had to sell all of the assets. They had to sell me. I had to go. So it didn't matter where I was going."