Across his shoulder blades, Michael Duberry bears a large tattoo in italic lettering that reads: “Exodus 11:18″. Across his shoulder blades, Michael Duberry bears a large tattoo in italic lettering that reads: “Exodus 11:18″.The biblical motif alludes to the story of Moses leading the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt, yet the muscular, shaven-headed centre-back is no religious devotee. The inscription was in homage to the murdered rap artist, Tupac Shakur, who also had the “Exodus” tattoo and saw the symbolism as applicable to the black liberation struggle.Moving on is something to which the 25-year-old Londoner may have to grow accustomed. Six months before the events of January 2000, Duberry left Chelsea, with whom he had been associated since he was 13, after losing his defensive place to the French international pair of Marcel Desailly and Frank Leboeuf. Now, despite being found not guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice, he is likely to be leaving another club.His claim during the trial that Leeds United’s solicitor, Peter McCormick, had advised him to stick with his original story, along with his decision to give evidence against Jonathan Woodgate, led his QC to venture that Duberry’s future would lie away from Leeds.The barrister called him “a proud man …

a gentle man who cares about his friends”, but also one who would have to live with people calling him a ‘grass’.”The £4.5m paid for him by the Leeds manager, David O’Leary, reflected the promise Duberry showed on establishing himself in the Premier League at the age of 19.If the athletics schoolboy international never quite lived up to the great expectations at Chelsea, he still left with five England Under-21 caps, a Coca-Cola Cup winners’ medal and a European Cup Winners’ Cup medal from the 1998 victory over VfB Stuttgart.At Leeds, where he told the club programme of his admiration for Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King and Mike Tyson, he ran into the same problem as at Chelsea: that of being unable to break a partnership, namely the one between Lucas Radebe and ­ ironically in view of the allegations Duberry would make in court ­ Woodgate. He became a peripheral figure, enduring long spells as a substitute and in the reserve team. Perhaps mindful that Radebe was the wrong side of 30, and that opportunities would arise because of injuries and suspensions over the course of a heavily congested schedule, Duberry did not rock the boat. Indeed, he told the Leeds club magazine a few months after signing in 1999: “On and off the field I’m happy.

Everyone’s young, everyone’s together.”Sent off in Leeds’ final home match last season, he found himself linked with possible transfers to Charlton Athletic, Southampton and West Ham United as the 2000-2001 season kicked off. At the same time there was renewed speculation about O’Leary’s willingness to break the bank to recruit Rio Ferdinand ­ for whom he later paid £18m ­ and thus marginalise him further. When the initial failure to land Ferdinand and an early-season spate of injuries gave Duberry another chance, he had his best games for the club against Barcelona and Milan in the Uefa Champions’ League. It seemed typical of his luck at Leeds that he was promptly incapacitated, suffering an injury at Derby in September that is expected to keep him out until August.Even as the trial loomed, he spoke in an interview of the “real friendship” among the Elland Road squad.