Rosler thankful for Wood signing

United saw off plenty of other interest to sign the 23-year-old New Zealander on a deal believed to be worth close to £3million.

Since Cellino took over at Leeds 18 months ago he has been more known for causing controversy than signing players, but in moving for Wood has given his head coach an unexpected boost.

"I think everybody wanted him," Rosler said. "(Head of recruitment) Martyn Glover, Mr Cellino, myself - he brings to the table what we were looking for, a physical presence and know-how of the league.

"His best years are ahead of him, his goalscoring record obviously.... and for me we got a player I didn't know was possible to get, but Mr Cellino made it happen and we can only thank him for that.

"Now our job is to integrate him as quickly as possible and give him the opportunity to play football. If we can raise his confidence he can be a very important player for Leeds United for years to come."

Wood was thrust straight into a training session with his new team-mates at a red-hot Thorp Arch complex on Wednesday morning.

In financial terms he is Leeds' biggest signing since the capture of Nick Barmby 12 years ago and is Rosler's fourth new face, joining Charlie Horton, Sol Bamba and Lee Erwin in Yorkshire.

"It came pretty quickly. I think it was around about Thursday last week when the interest came and I heard about it and then the bid went in straight away," Wood said of the move.

"It was nice to see that and you want to see that as it showed the type of hunger that they want me here."

Since Cellino has taken over, Leeds have attracted more bad headlines than good - especially when it comes to how he has handled his managers - but Wood added that after meeting his new paymaster, he had few doubts.

"Of course, I had my thoughts about what happened last season and the way the club was run and things like that," he said.

"But I came up here to speak to the manager to get my own little feel on it. I came up at the last weekend and I spoke to them both (Rosler and Cellino) and it blew me away what they were saying and how they looked to change it and the club behind the scenes, which they have done already.

"In the four or five weeks, they have brought in Adam Pearson and a couple of other ones behind the backroom staff and it's looking good.

"The manager is a good appointment and I can't wait to work under him. It was the biggest move of my career and I didn't want to take things lightly.

"I did my homework and made sure I was at the right place for me. I spoke to the manager and Massimo and I went away for a think about it to get the feeling of where I want to be and whether it matched up to where Leeds want to be.

"As soon as I got things into my head, I was on the phone to the manager that I wanted to be here and they struck the deal quickly."

Wood scored 20 goals in 62 appearances for the Foxes after arriving at the club from West Brom in 2013. He spent the second half of last season on loan at Leeds' Sky Bet Championship rivals Ipswich.