As per one of the latest reports by The Sun, Championship outfit Leeds United are attempting to lure Swansea City’s youngster Oliver McBurnie to the Elland Road during the ongoing summer transfer window. The Whites have had a decent start to their new campaign in the English second division as they have accumulated a couple of wins and as many draws so far.
However, one of the major blows which Thomas Christiansen is seemingly likely to face this summer is the exit of Chris Wood. Wood emerged as one of the hottest prospects in English football last season owing to the fine run of form he successfully manoeuvred last season. The New Zealand international banged 30 goals across all competitions for the Peacocks and despite Garry Monk’s failure to secure a playoff spot with Leeds United, Wood’s flamboyance earned him a lot of admirers.
Sky Sports have reported earlier today that the 25-year-old is in the final stages of completion of his move to Burnley for a fee which is believed to be in the region of £15million. In Christiansen’s side’s 2-0 win away against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, Caleb Ekuban was stationed up front as Wood ruled himself out of the game for obvious reasons. Worryingly, the West Yorkshire based club suffered a setback as Ekuban injured himself during the game.
In a situation like this, Leeds United’s apparent knack to make McBurnie sign on the dotted line makes complete sense as they are actually in the dire need of signing a striker to meet their goal scoring needs. The 21-year-old emerged through the youth ranks of Bradford City and was then promoted to their senior side. Swansea City were quick to notice his talents and brought him to the Liberty Stadium a couple of seasons back, but McBurnie hasn’t been able to construct a prominent place for himself in the ranks of the Swans.
The Scot is indeed a blossoming starlet with huge potential and with the experience he has accumulated during his loan spells with Chester, Newport City and Bristol Rovers, he showed that he is capable of achieving substantial outputs. He has a commanding presence, knows where the goal is and has an element of calmness and composure up front. Although it would be a huge risk by Leeds United to sign a young gun to replace Wood, at the outset, it appears to be worth taking.
