A sad bit of news for the Leeds United fans as latest reports suggest that Kyle Bartley has chosen against a move to Elland Road for the newly relegated West Brom. Swansea City have agreed to sell for £4m as the Englishman prepares to replace Jonny Evans in the Baggies starting lineup. Bartley is due for a medical at the Hawthorns upon which he will become Darren Moore’s first signing of the 2018 summer transfer window.
This is a definite miss for Marco Bielsa and the rest of his management team but it is also unlikely that Leeds would have been able to come up with a competing bid. The Argentine boss has made just one signing this summer in Lewis Baker and is desperately searching for a goal-scoring forward.
However, the defence certainly needs to be addressed after previous season’s poor 13th place finish under Thomas Christiansen and Paul Heckingbottom. The backline looked way more vulnerable without Bartley in the starting XI. The 27-year-old has made a staggering 50 appearances for the club while out on loan to Elland Road in the 2016/17 season. He also delivered with 6 goals and 2 assists on the offensive end to help the Peacocks make a run for promotion.
Not only was he named in a couple of EFL Championship Team Of The Week awards, Bartley managed to showcase his real defensive and leadership talents. Unfortunately, a medial ligament injury restricted him to just 12 appearances for the Swans last term, in their troubled run through relegation.
Earlier reports claimed that Bartley had expressed a willingness to make a permanent switch to Elland Road someday. However, Swansea have not received a single offer from Leeds since the start of the 2018 summer window, as opposed to their starting duo, Alfie Mawson and Federico Fernandez.
Bartley was hardly a sporadic option for the Welsh outfit over the past six seasons and was mostly noticeable during his loan spells away from the club. So far, the Englishman has just earned 38 senior team appearances for Swansea City with a contract set to run for another 3 seasons.
He could have been a leading figure in the Leeds backline for their promised run for promotion next term. Instead, he is set to help the Baggies make an immediate jump back to Premier League football.
Read More: Leeds United Drops Interest In 25 Y/O Serie B Forward: A Good Move For All Parties Involved?
With Marco Bielsa taking charge of the Whites ahead of the 2018/19 campaign, he really needs to get the ball rolling on some of these transfers. As observed in recent events, clubs are not waiting around for the deadline day to pick up their players on the cheap. While missing out on Bartley is a huge loss, the former Lille head coach should look towards potential replacements.
