Paraag Marathe insisted at the end of last season that Leeds United didn’t need a squad overhaul like last summer. However, seven new faces arrived and several left as the squad underwent a major churn in the recently concluded transfer window.
Pascal Struijk was one of the first major figures to leave Leeds early in the summer, before the club were rocked by Karl Darlow’s decision to snub a new contract offer and join Manchester United on a free transfer.
However, Leeds reacted well and brought in quality players such as Harry Wilson, James Trafford, Tarik Muharemovic and Nico Elvedi to improve the starting eleven and the squad.
Leeds also decided to let Joel Piroe join West Ham on loan in the summer, but they didn’t sign a striker to replace the forward in their squad at the end of the transfer window.
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Joel Piroe opens up on his Leeds United exit and West Ham move
Piroe dropped down the pecking order at Leeds last season and was always expected to be moved on in the summer transfer window.
The striker revealed that Ajax wanted to sign him, but the Dutch giants were priced out of a move by the Yorkshire giants.
He eventually agreed to join West Ham and has conceded that London is obviously a more attractive place to live in than Leeds.
The striker also pointed out that West Ham are selling out the London Stadium despite being in the Championship at the start of the season.
“London is obviously a much nicer city than Leeds. And West Ham has a team worthy of the Premier League”, Piroe was quoted as saying by ESPN Netherlands.
“Just look at the stadium… Sold out, 60,000 fans – that’s not exactly the norm in the Championship. Especially in London, where West Ham United isn’t the biggest or most popular club.”
The Surinamese forward stressed that he joined a Championship club because he would have more opportunities to play football and has set a 20-goal target for this season.
“I feel like the Championship gave me the best opportunities to play a lot of matches”, he added.
“When you play a lot, you can showcase your qualities. That’s the main reason I chose a Championship team. You can play plenty of games and quickly find your rhythm. My goal is to score 20 goals.”
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Piroe was not good enough for the Premier League
He could still get one more crack at his dream of scoring in the Premier League as West Ham will have to buy him if they get promoted this season.
However, Daniel Farke made it abundantly clear that he didn’t think that Piroe had the physicality to be a leading man up front for a Premier League team.
He became the fourth-choice striker in a Leeds squad last season that didn’t have four strikers, and Farke preferred a few players over him.
The striker got a few opportunities, but never looked comfortable at the highest level and was deemed not good enough to play in the top flight.
Piroe is a proven scorer in the Championship, and West Ham signed him as they needed someone of his experience to try and get straight back up.
