Leeds United had a successful few days in the transfer window when they secured the signings of Jack Harrison, Ben White and Helder Costa in quick succession. However, they were rocked by the Pontus Jansson saga, and things moved quickly as the defender has now officially joined Brentford. Another problem they are facing is keeping hold of Kalvin Phillips as he is attracting interest from Aston Villa.
Recently the Whites have suffered another blow as reports (The Scottish Sun) mention that Scottish giants Rangers have kept Kemar Roofe on top of their list as a possible replacement for Alfredo Morelos. Roofe is in the final year of his contract, and the Whites seem to in an uncertain territory here as they are yet to get the English forward on a new deal.
Former Leeds United striker and BBC commentator Noel Whelan talked to Football Insider and blasted the way the Whites have handled the Roofe situation so far. He said, ”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 £5m. He’s worth double that, around £10m. 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?”
Why Whelan is spot on?
Even if the Whites failed to get him on a new contract last summer, they could have tried to tie him down on a longer contract midway through the season. Patrick Bamford hasn’t really fired, and Tyler Roberts is still learning his trade. Therefore the Whites still don’t have a striker who could score 20-25 odd goals a season. Roofe is someone who can get closest to the mark, but the Whites have messed it up by not having him on a new deal.
Roofe could easily be worth somewhere between £10-15m if he were on a long term contract so one cannot blame Rangers if they lowball Leeds with an offer of £5m. The Yorkshire outfit will probably hope that Alfredo Morelos stays at Rangers for another season so they could keep hold of Roofe.
Reliable journalist Phil Hay had updated around end of May that a new deal for Roofe could be difficult. Therefore Bielsa certainly does not have this situation under control, and the striker leaving Elland Road this summer remains a possibility.
