Many in the Leeds United fanbase were concerned about defensive strength at the club again this year, especially as we saw the likes of Pontus Jansson move on and a number of our highly rated Academy graduates who could’ve provided cover – and manager Marcelo Bielsa’s answer was Brighton and Hove Albion centre-half Ben White.
It’s not unfair to say bringing in the 21-year-old on a season long loan spell was a mini masterstroke given what we’ve seen from the lad in his performances so far, as he’s certainly impressed.
The only downside to the deal is that we have no option to buy him, and, unfortunately, if he continues performing at this rate, we probably wouldn’t be able to afford him anyway.
Speaking in his now regular column, former player and now BBC pundit Noel Whelan, simply couldn’t rave about the player more, as he stated he had all the attributes to be the ‘next Maguire’.
“Ben White ticks every box. He is a brilliant defender who’s only going to get better in the years ahead. He does everything really well – mobile, athletic, great distribution, confident on the ball, makes good decisions, his positioning is good. He is not as dominant in the air as centre-backs like Harry Maguire and Pontus Jansson. But he is better on the ball than Jansson and just as good as Maguire. He’s probably better than Maguire was at 21. Can he be as good as him? Absolutely, he can be the next Maguire.”
Given what we’ve seen, I can’t imagine many fans will disagree with him here.
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