Just when you thought the transfer window was behind us, it comes out of the darkness to bring us yet more news.
And here I was thinking we wouldn’t have to start talking about rumours until the January window was around the corner. Who’s ready for another transfer rumour? I certainly am, so let’s go.
According to reports from TV2 in Norway, Leeds were close to signing Southampton winger Mohamed Elyounossi. The report states that Bielsa and his men were looking to bring him in for ‘a few weeks’ before the end of the window last Thursday, however Leeds couldn’t come up with a way to justify paying some or all of the Norwegians £60,000 per week wages.
Elyounossi has had a very productive career so far. In 246 appearances for Sarpsborg 08 FF, Molde FK and FC Basel managed to score 83 goals and provide 49 assists for his teammates.
He’s taken a bit of a step back though when it comes to his time in England, where he has failed to produce either a goal or an assist with the Saints. It’s well documented that players from abroad need time to adapt to the English game, so perhaps he’s just suffering from the same problems that hampered the likes of Andriy Shevchenko, Heurelho Gomes & David De Gea has when they first arrived.
So perhaps playing in a lower division would have been just what he needed to give his career that little bit of a kick-start.
That being said, despite his very impressive goal haul, he is still a winger, and Leeds are already well-stocked when it comes to them at the moment. Whilst I made it pretty clear that I’m not a big fan of the signing of Eddie Nketiah (I would much rather Leeds went for a more proven & experienced Championship striker in the wake of losing Kemar Roofe), at the end of the day at least Nketiah is a striker, someone that the club needed. The club didn’t need an extra winger.
So, all in all, I think the club made the right call on this one. Hey, what do you know? I said something nice about Leeds for once. Am I out of the doghouse now?