Leeds United currently should be confident of moving to the Premier League as they have a two-point lead over Sheffield United. Incidentally, their next opponents are the Blades and the Whites can take a massive step towards automatic promotion if they manage to earn three points at Elland Road this weekend.
United’s transfer plans could be on hold right now as moving up a division or staying in the Championship can undoubtedly make a whole lot of difference. The Whites though should be eyeing a move to the Premier League, and as such, they should look to target players who are going to make sure that they continue to stay in the English top flight.
With a razor-thin squad, Bielsa has done an impressive job. Moreover, he has handled the various injury crisis well as he was flexible in his approach and went on to use multiple players in various positions.
However, such stopgap approach wouldn’t work in the Premier League, and the West Yorkshire team must look to increase their squad depth. Here are three positions where they need strengthening.
Midfield
Mateusz Klich and Kalvin Phillips have played the most of the season, and the Whites have been lucky that the duo hasn’t missed much of the season due to injury. The Whites had to send back Lewis Baker as the Chelsea loanee was finding it hard to get game time. That has left the club with only Adam Forshaw as the other central midfield/defensive midfield option. To handle the rigours and challenges of the Premier League the Whites need to sign a midfielder in the summer.
Winger
It is clear that the Whites might need a winger or two in the summer if they want to stay in the Premier League. Jack Harrison is currently on loan from Manchester City, and his loan spell is set to expire in the summer. Ezgjan Alioski has looked better as a fullback, and therefore we might see him continue in that position. The Whites tried to sign Daniel James in the January window, so it’s clear that even Bielsa wanted to sign a winger for his squad. So one can expect the club to sign at least 2 in the summer.
Attacking Midfielder
Ever since the departure of Samuel Saiz, Bielsa has gone on to use Tyler Roberts and Pablo Hernandez to fill in that position. Both of them have done a decent job, but as we mentioned, Premier League will be a tough nut to crack, and the club needs to get in specialist players for their position. Therefore an attacking midfielder should be on the agenda of the club.
