Leeds News

The Leeds board allowed this to happen, how could they be so naïve? – Opinion

|

Is this really the best that they could come up with?

It looks as if Leeds have got their replacement for Kemar Roofe, and it’s Eddie Nketiah. The 20-year-old signed today on a season-long loan deal.

Forgive me if I’m not as enthusiastic as some of the people on Twitter are about this move. I said it before when he was linked to the club a couple of days ago, and deep down I was hoping that it was all going to be smoke, mirrors and a whole lot of nonsense. I didn’t want this move to go through because I thought it would be too much of a risk, essentially swapping a proven Championship goalscorer and your top scorer from last year for a total unknown at this level.

The fact that it’s even a loan should be an indicator that even Marcelo Bielsa can’t have much faith in him, or they’d have made the deal a permanent one straight away.

I’ll say it, this move smacks of a lack of ambition.

Whilst Leeds have made some good moves this window, particularly in the winger department with the addition of Helder Costa, bringing back Jack Harrison and holding onto Jack Clarke for another year, they have taken a huge step back when it comes to the forwards.

Given Patrick Bamford’s injury problems from last year, you can’t be too sure that he’ll be available for 100% of the games and after that, who are you left with? Tyler Roberts with only three Championship goals to his name, or Eddie Nketiah with only three goals at senior level for Arsenal in 19 appearances.

You see where I’m going with this? You’re asking a lot from your wingers and midfielders to make up the numbers if your main man goes down.

Once again, this is something that could have been avoided if Leeds had simply done their business early. Why was Roofe’s deal allowed to get to this stage in the first place? The instant he showed some promise last year, they should have been negotiating a new deal there and then, rather than waiting for the summer when clubs could start swooping for him.

I’ve slated Marcelo Bielsa a lot this summer, but he doesn’t get the blame for this one. This time the finger of blame is point squarely at the board. You allowed this to happen, and if you don’t rectify this by making up for it in January, then your hopes of promotion could end up in smoke.

Share this article