Leeds United were left scrambling for players on transfer deadline day as their plans to bring in more attacking reinforcements unravelled. Daniel Farke was left to deal with the squad he had going into the final day of the window, despite his pleas for two more players for the final third.
The Whites made a deadline day move to sign Wales winger Harry Wilson, who was keen to join the club. However, the deal collapsed like a pack of cards after Fulham changed their mind about selling the Welshman, leaving Leeds empty-handed.
Farke kept on insisting last weekend that he needed attacking reinforcements and indicated that without a couple of new forwards, the Whites could be staring at relegation back to the Championship at the end of the season.
There is renewed hope that Leeds could fill the gap by bringing in a player on a free transfer in the coming days, but it seems club managing director Robbie Evans was sent out to pour water on all those rumours.
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Leeds United are unlikely to sign anyone on a free transfer
Leeds are reportedly looking at the prospect of signing Burnley captain Josh Brownhill, who has a lucrative offer on his table to move to Saudi Arabia.
However, Evans insisted that Leeds do not feel the need to dip their feet in the free transfer market because the right player is not available for them.
He stressed that the Whites felt that only a handful of players were good enough to improve the squad, and those players are no longer available, despite the several quality players being out of contract at this stage.
“I don’t think right now there’s any need so great that it’s worth going to the free agent market to fill it, in part because I doubt the right player is there”, Evans told the Yorkshire Evening Post.
“It’s a great market for injuries. So last year brought Josuha [Guilavogui] on. We had an emergency crisis with injuries. But beyond that, it’s probably wait and see.
“We don’t see using free agency as a priority because there’s only a handful of players we felt were good enough to begin with, and the pool obviously shrinks dramatically when you go from the entirety of the window, or the players in the window, to the handful of free agents that are available.”
This is a shocking stance from Leeds
Farke wanted two players towards the end of the window – a striker and a versatile attacking midfielder, which means there are still gaps in the squad, according to the manager.
Brownhill showed in the Championship last season that he is a terrific attacking midfielder who is likely to be an upgrade on Brenden Aaronson in the team.
Aleksandar Mitrovic is also expected to be available on a free transfer, with Al-Hilal considering terminating his contract to get rid of him in the coming days.
For Leeds to turn up their nose on such players shows that the club do not have the appetite to think outside the box to improve the overall quality of the squad.
I would be talking to Mitrovic already not only on the off chance he does become free but to show him how important Leeds think of him and to emphasise How he fits in to the Leeds project.
I bet other clubs are already doing just that so Leeds need to get in there asap!!
Robbie Evans commented on the lack of transfers at the end of the transfer window, Perhaps he should be familiar with the expression ‘ don’t p— on my shoes and tell me it’s raining! ‘ His excuses are transparent and seem to contradict what Farke and fans were led to believe. Don’t count on anything coming from 49s …… snow job.
69ers
I think Evans does have a point. None of these players were deemed good enough for ANYONE during the transfer window, so why suddenly are they deemed important? Don’t get me wrong, I believe the recruitment have failed us, we should have been much more aggressive in their pursuit of players. I’d rather they go and get players in January, get them in and get them in early in that window.