Massimo Cellino is sorry for the extra pressure he has heaped on Leeds United starlet Sam Byram due to a contractual dispute.
Byram is out of contract at the end of the season and has knocked back an offer to extend made by Cellino, something which has disappointed the Italian businessman.
Cellino insists he was only looking to extend Byram's contract in order to make sure he did not have the pressure of playing this season with the knowledge that he was in possession of an expiring contract.
However, after initially leaving talks to former executive director Adam Pearson, Cellino admits that extra pressure has been placed on Byram which has affected his performances.
And that is something he maintains he is genuinely sorry has happened, but insists he was operating with Byram's best interests at heart.
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Speaking to BBC Radio Leeds, Cellino said: "You have to understand that in football we're talking about professionals. The contract must be signed by two parties, us and the player.
"Sam Byram is a player who used to play right back, last year he played more in midfield and he played very good.
"I think that he is growing as a player. He is still young and he is thinking about football in a way like he is 28 or 29; he is still 22.
"He is still a baby talking about his age in football. So he's got all the future in front of him.
"My problem this year was not to give him a new contract to sell him, like has been done in the past with this boy, because he had maybe a contract which was too big for his age – because they signed the contract to sell him", Cellino explained, blaming the previous regime at Elland Road.
"Sam Byram is a player who has got good potential, but my worry at the beginning of the season was in the last year of contract some players who have not been through this game a lot with this experience do not know how to handle the last year of their contract.
"They are more weak, they are more potentially exposed to a bid, not focusing on what they have to do. That was my worry.
"So I just said, why don't you give one year more? So you can focus to play football and we don't risk that he's going to handle the season, the last year of contract, in the right way, and he doesn't play good or maybe, touch wood, he gets injured.
"With my experience I've seen a lot of things like that with players in the last year of their contract, they have a bad season and especially with young players they can get confused, especially when they are young."
Cellino appreciates the contract chatter has had a negative impact on Byram's performances on the pitch, especially when compared with last term.
"Apparently Sam is a little bit under stress now. I saw the last game and last year he passed a lot, especially the second half of the season.
"This season I've seen him a little bit confused and I'm sorry for that, that's the only reason."
The Leeds supremo insists however that he is not prepared to give up on keeping Byram at Elland Road, though the player getting his performances back on track must be his first focus.
"But I've not given up on him, not for the contract. The contract is a secondary thing. It's important he gives something like he used to do to the club."
