Latest reports suggest that Leeds United are set to have a busy January transfer window as Marcelo Bielsa has outlined three positions which the club needs to consolidate on. The three areas where the club needs reinforcements are a centre-back, striker and winger. It is believed that club owner Andrea Radrizzani is set to meet these demands and is willing to splash the cash to boost United’s promotion pursuit.
The Whites have been hit by injuries off late in those particular positions, and as a result, first team players like Gaetano Berardi, Kemar Roofe and Pablo Hernandez have been out for weeks now. It is no coincidence that the club dropped some crucial points when they missed these players and that has made the table interesting even though the West Yorkshire outfit are still in a good spot.
United signed just two players on a permanent deal in the summer, out of which big money signing Patrick Bamford is going to be out until January at least after he did his knee while playing for the u-23 side. The Whites have been guilty of not punishing their opponents in the final third of late, and loss of first-team players have definitely affected that so it is good to see Bielsa looking to rectify those mistakes in January.
Leeds fans would be delighted to hear this news as they would have been definitely left disappointed after a relatively quiet summer. Earlier in the summer, it was reported that the club is set to offer Bielsa a £20m transfer war chest to make changes to the side. However, around half of that money is still left as the club spent on just buying Patrick Bamford and Barry Douglas. Therefore we can expect some real transfer activity in winter form the club.
Signing a left-sided winger could be of priority for the club as Ezgjan Alioski has let the team down often in crunch situations after getting into good positions. Centre back is another one of the areas where the club currently lacks depth, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise that the club is in the market to add depth to these positions.
Squad depth is going to be a crucial factor as the season wears on especially with the demanding kind of football the Whites are playing under Marcelo Bielsa. They were lucky not to slip up a lot more in these testing times. Roofe, Hernandez and Berardi are set to be back soon, but with so little points in between the top 4 sides at the moment, things are bound to get tight as the season goes by. Hopefully, from United’s point of view, they can get some top talents in January to bolster their promotions chances.
