Ken Bates has revealed to the club's official magazine, Leeds Leeds Leeds, the club are in for 'a nasty surprise' if they achieve promotion as Middlesbrough will be owed £1.8m for striker Michael Ricketts as part of the deal that took Mark Viduka to the Riverside Stadium in July 2004.
The one-time England cap is currently out on loan at Burnley and he has made only 13 starts for Leeds and scored two goals before also being loaned out to Stoke and Cardiff but if he is still on the club's books at the end of the season, Bates will be required to pay for his services if promotion is attained.
The 'deal' was struck while former chairman Gerald Krasner was in charge.