Former Leeds United striker and now BBC pundit Noel Whelan seems to believe that key striker Kemar Roofe is definitely off to Scottish side Rangers this summer.
Reports had surfaced this week suggesting that Roofe had become a target for Rangers manager Steven Gerrard, but in true rumour mill style they were convoluted and depended on the future of current striker Alfredo Morelos – and some fans were happy enough to see a potential swap deal go through.
With the likes of Adam Pope backin up the speculation and insisting it ‘definitely has legs’, Whelan has now had his say on the matter and he believes that Rangers have succeeded in turning his head and that’s put paid to any hopes we had of getting him to commit to a new deal at Elland Road.
“Leeds are vulnerable to losing Kemar. They are not in a good position and they are there because they failed to give him a new contract last season, when they should have. You cannot allow your top goalscorer to come to the final year of his contract. It’s not the way to go about keeping players. Now we could lose one of our best players because the club haven’t done their job right. I’ve read Rangers want to get Kemar for £5million. He’s worth double that, around £10million. Easily. It appears the player’s head has been turned with a huge contract offer from Rangers. Can Leeds match that? Can they match the chance to win trophies, play European football and work with a legend like Steven Gerrard?”
The problem with Whelan’s criticism of the club here is he makes it sound like we can force Roofe into signing a new deal when everybody knows football doesn’t work that way. If Rangers are only willing to pay £5million for him, I’m also not sure that’s a huge offer that would turn his head and I also fail to see how Rangers could blow us out of the water when it came to terms on a new contract.
It hasn’t been a good week for Leeds fans but hindsight can always prove you right if that’s your aim. Had Roofe had a woeful season and not built on 2017/18, hindsight would prove not giving a bumper deal was also the right thing to do.
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