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The Scot caught fire at Elland Road, and Leeds made a handsome profit out of his talents

After his first 12 months in a Leeds United shirt, few would have thought Ross McCormack would command an eight-figure fee upon his departure from the club.

The Scot joined Cardiff City in the summer of 2010, but struggled to get a constant run in the first-team during his early days at Elland Road, with the goals drying up as a result.

But once the dancefloor became all his, the former Bluebird began to spread his wings, with the Whites relying on him as their main source of goals as he ran riot in the second tier.

While the record books shows a return of 53 goals in 144 league appearances, there was a stretch where McCormack was one of the most unplayable strikers in the division, with more than a few opposition defenders feeling the brunt of his explosiveness in the final third.

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McCormack had endured spells on both sides of the border before making the move to the Welsh capital, with Rangers, Motherwell and Doncaster Rovers all former ports of call, before Cardiff City snapped him up.

The move to the EFL seemed to bring the best out of the frontman, with 21 goals in his first season in Wales proving as much, although four goals in the next campaign saw his reputation stutter after that fast start.

But Leeds were not to be deferred, with the Whites said to have forked out £350,000 to bring the forward to the club, in the hope of him recreating his early form for Cardiff, rather than his recent offerings.

But lo and behold, the Scottish international initially continued where he left off in Wales, with goals hard to come by, and Luciano Becchio proving an even harder hurdle to overcome in making the first-team.

Try as he might, McCormack couldn’t make the impact he wanted after making the move to Yorkshire, with his only goals in his first campaign with the club coming in the final two matches of the season, with Burnley and QPR getting a taste of what he can deliver when given the opportunity.

Ross McCormack turns things around at Leeds United before Fulham move

With the off-season giving him a chance to refine his game, McCormack came back firing in the following campaign, with his stall set out early as he notched ten times in his first 13 matches of the season in all competitions to re-announce himself to the division.

The likes of Crystal Palace, Brighton and Hove Albion and Bristol City all came a cropper against the striker, who was finding the back of the net with such ease that it seemed a case of when he would score, rather than if, whenever he took to the field.

From his troubled beginnings at Elland Road, the ex-Rangers man was now flying, and went on to fire 18 goals across the 2012/13 campaign, before adding another ten to that tally for the season after.

The pinnacle of his time at the club would be his sensational four-goal haul against Charlton Athletic, as he produced yet another masterclass to sweep aside the Addicks.

After snaffling the first of the match with his typical poacher’s instinct, McCormack then added another from the spot, before a close-range volley saw him claim the match ball, although he wasn’t quite done there.

This was a man at the peak of his unplayable pomp, and he outlined that with his side’s final strike of the afternoon, as he curled a free kick away from the goalkeeper and into the top corner, as he continued to make a name for himself as one of the sharpest shooters outside the top tier.

This was a man at the peak of his powers - with everything he touched turning into goals - and a far cry from the player who struggled to get going at the start of his time in Yorkshire.

With such a magical season under his belt, it was no surprise when teams came a calling in the summer, with Leeds still languishing in the midst of the second tier, while their star striker looked destined for the top.

As much as Whites fans would have been reluctant to let him go, a reported figure of £11 million from Fulham will have been too much to turn down for the Elland Road hierarchy, who made the most of a transfer gamble some years before.

After starting his time at Elland Road in a sluggish state, few would have predicted the rise of Ross McCormack in Yorkshire, with the striker becoming one of the most-adored stars of that generation of Leeds United.

Goals that made memories to last a lifetime, while the club cashed in at the best possible time. The Yorkshire side will never spend a better £350,000 again.