Recently reports from the Athletic as cited by the Chronicle came out that Leeds United were one of the teams chasing Dwight Gayle in January. However, Steve Bruce was reluctant to sell the English striker. Latest reports from the Leeds Live reveals that Newcastle will only sell Gayle on a permanent basis in the summer and they have kept a price tag of £15m on his head.
With that kind of price tag involved, we believe that Leeds United will be virtually out of the race to sign him in January. United’s only hopes were to sign him on loan, but Steve Bruce clearly wants to keep him at the Tyneside.
Why are Leeds United unlikely to go for a striker?
Phil Hay recently revealed that Leeds United would not look to add to their frontline if Eddie Nketiah stays put at the club. Arsenal does have an option to recall the youngster in January. The English forward is yet to start a game in the Championship so there is a possibility that Nketiah could be recalled in January.
In that case, Leeds United might have to look at other strikers. Dwight Gayle is now more or less out of the picture with Newcastle United announcing their price tag for the player. The English player was even linked with a move away in the summer to West Brom, but Steve Bruce kept hold of him.
Bruce issues hands-off warning over Gayle
It is understandable why the English manager would want to keep Gayle as Joelinton hasn’t been firing upfront for the Toon. Bruce had already iterated just around a week back that Gayle is an integral part of his squad. The manager had said (The Chronicle), ”I made that pretty clear in the summer. How would I replace him? And I wouldn’t want to let any of our good players going in January. I fought hard in the summer to keep him, and that will be the case again.”
Gayle is a proven scorer at the Championship level, and he would have undoubtedly been a top signing for the Whites. Leeds United have done well so far this season, but Patrick Bamford had to go through a rough phase where he didn’t manage to find the net for ten consecutive games. Gayle had managed 24 goals for West Brom last season, and he would have been effective even at Elland Road.
A blow for Bielsa?
It is clear that Bielsa has his own way of working, and he is happy to work with a smaller squad. Hence, Leeds United wouldn’t be bothered too much with the Magpies valuing Gayle at £15m. Hopefully, Nketiah will stay put until the end of the season and United will likely be okay with Bamford and Tyler Roberts being the other forward option.
