Good Morning. It's Tuesday 18th August, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road. Hay - White keen on ER switch if contract talks break down Phil Hay has this morning revealed that Ben White would be keen to return to Elland Road, IF contract talks break down between him and the club. Currently the Seagulls are offering the 22yo just shy of £20,000 a week. The former Chief football writer for the YEP also revealed that Bielsa is only looking for one centre back, as Ayling can provide cover. ' 'They (Brighton) have tried to push White’s salary closer to the £20,000-a-week mark but he has turned down their proposals'. 'Leeds accept that if White and Brighton do agree new terms, a transfer is off the table'. 'They also suspect that the 22-year-old leaving may depend on him forcing the issue and asking to go'. 'He is understood to be keen on returning to Leeds if contract talks with Brighton come to nothing. And in comparison to alternatives such as Koch, he has the advantage of being Bielsa-ready'. 'Leeds have four more weeks before their first Premier League game and Bielsa prefers his summer signings to be on board early, to make sure they are schooled in his methods and his expectations'. 'He wants only one centre-back, irrespective of the loss of Gaetano Berardi for most if not all of the season following an ACL injury. Luke Ayling will shift across from right-back should injuries bite'. please log in to view this image Leeds turn their attention to Koch Now that hopes of signing Ben White in doubt, Leeds have turned their attention to Germany International Robin Koch. It is thought that the 24yo is Bielsa's second choice centre back. Whats even better is he is available at half price, due to only having one year left on his contract. According to German media outlet Kicker, Freiburg will demand at least €10 million (around £9m) for Koch as he has only one year left on his contract. Unfortunately for the Whites, Leeds are not the only admirers of the former Kaiserslautern player. The 6ft 3' powerhouse has a range of admirers all across Europe, including Anfield!!! This is bound to drive the price up! please log in to view this image Kinnear - Elland Road should be a 50,000 capacity Back in April Angus Kinnear stated that, should Leeds reach promotion back to the Premiership, the club would look into the expansion of Elland Road, with a potential new capacity of 50,000. Kinnear revisited the subject recently whilst being interviewed on The Extra Ball podcast The question posed to him, was “should Leeds have a bigger stadium”. He said: “It feels like how it should be – Arsenal have got a waiting list [for season tickets], West Ham have got a waiting list – it feels like we should have a bigger stadium, the stadium should be at 50,000 [capacity]. That is now a further part of our plans. “I think what’s also great is you have the hardcore fanbase, but it is also great for the city as well – to walk through the city and people to feel proud about what’s happened and what they’re part of. The way the club was run historically was almost a source of embarrassment for people who perhaps weren’t fans, but just didn’t have the club that the city deserved.” please log in to view this image Leeds favourites to land Harry Wilson Leeds have emerged as favourites to land Harry Wilson from Anfield. The attacking midfielder / winger wants regular first team football having been sent out on loan in recent times to Derby and Bournemouth. Even though the 23yo earned himself rave reviews at the Cherries, both player and club realise that his Anfield days are over. Liverpool have slapped a £20 million price tag on Wilson. They know that a host of Premiership clubs are monitoring the situation, and if Leeds hesitate, Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Southampton are all waiting on the sidelines to step in! please log in to view this image
Good morning. I think I speak for everyone now when I say the first thing I want to see at Elland Road is a big dribbling Koch. It turns out he already knows Klich from their days at FC Kaiserslautern. I'm usually against footballers demanding huge wages but I agree with White here. If they value him at 50 million then give him a wage that reflects that. He's still too expensive for us but the fact that he seems to want to be at Leeds so much has to increase his value. I actually disagree with Bielsa over centre backs. We've been stung before by having to put together a make-shift defence when two or three are out injured. I think we need 3 experienced CB's in the squad. Wilson wouldn't be a bad signing but being a young English player we'll probably have to pay more than he's worth.
Phil Hay has confirmed that the highest Leeds bid for Ben White stands at 22 million. Brighton may value him higher but the reports of them actually turning down a thirty-odd million bid are poppycock.
I'm getting to the point of thinking that if Ben White wants to come then he really needs to request a move. Brighton obviously don't want to pay him what he is worth. Just tell them you want to leave. You'll earn your transfer fee cut in the better wages at Leeds in the first season or two. Put a big release clause in and he gets a cut of that in the future. Just ask to leave.
Morning all. If we can't get White this week for 30 million then it's time to move on and look at Koch. I think we are only looking at one CB as Bielsa sees Ayling and Struijk as cover in that position and tbh id be happy with that. Id be happy with Wilson for no more than 20 million. Would just look for another striker and then I think we would be about done for new players.
Good morning and first thing i want to say is when did Beradi become a Leeds player again. His contract has run out or so i believe... Phil hay look up your facts. Rads said the club would help him and i took that to mean with rehabilitation. Do players not pay into a pfa fund for times like this?. If Bielsa only wants one centre back so be it. One of the u23s will have to step up as they can't remain kids forever. We were told all ages at the club would play and train the same. This would lead to progress and players ready move into first team squad. So all i can say is see who we sign and who gets a squad number. What about Boguszt he might be the next to make it. Pre season is where bielsa makes his mind up and sticks to it. I don't want Wilson over priced and too high wages. If White is holding Brighton to ransom then he will do the same to us. The player we reportedly missed out on went to another club for a smaller fee. He stated the reasin was Bamford would be first choice. I just wonder if he got more wages was the real reason.
My understanding is a 3rd bid has gone in which is really loads of add ons that could take it up to £30m if he plays for England, if he starts 50 games for Leeds, if he scores 10 goals, if he captains the club etc and in reality the offer is still around £22m which I still think is OTT but we get what we know? Robin Koch is an upgrade on White at half the price and should be a no brainer i will be happy with Harry Wilson as he is a direct replacement for wherever Pablo plays as well as dead ball kicks. He has goals and assists. was interested to hear Kinnear talking about our transfer targets with 3 of them being players that would excite Leeds fans, which gives the impression of top top players? Maybe White or Koch covers one?
Agree on the CBs and it seems Struijk will sign a 3 yeard deal as a first team CB who can also play DM. We also know that Cresswell and Casey have been playing as CBs in training with the first team with both tipped to be first team starters in the next season or so
I'm with Tommo on this ... part of the total football/bieslaball philosophy is you have a small group of players who can cover multiple positions, but there are some positions where we end up rejigging multiple positions to accommodate the change... philips being the obvious one last year. If Ayling who has been top performer at right back, becomes back up centre half (where he's never looked great anyway), we then have someone else filling it at right back etc. If he thinks Struijk is genuinely (premiership) ready to step up then that's different.
I think one of Ayling/Struijk filling in at CB is fine. The trouble is over the last few years we've often had more than one defender out at a time. I'm not sure I'd want an out of position Ayling (who never looked convincing at CB in the Championship) alongside a youngster like Struijk or Casey going against Aguero, Salah, Mane etc. That's why I'd go for a cheap experienced CB.
The only constant we had in defence last season was Ben White due to injuries and suspensions to Cooper, Ayling and Phillips. Ayling isnt a left sided CB so forces White to move and White as a DM was terrible too. Struijk seemed a natural. For me we need to have a replacement for White and one for Cooper who will struggle at times and end up either injured or suspended. If Bielsa thinks Struijk is the man great, but we’ve seen top sides struggle due to lack of top Cbs and that goes for Chelsea, Man Utd and Man City where they only have one top CB each, City have signed Ake and getting another, Man Utd only have slabhead and the others are shocking and would have been interesting to see Smalling and slab play together but they sent him on loan Before buying the slab to Italy and is playing great.
White loves Leeds & the comradeship he's built up with our group of players If you had a choice of learning your trade under Potter or Bielsa, where would you rather be?
Morning all I think Brighton are trying to start a bidding war between us, The Scum and the Scousers. Scum are cryig out for a decent CB with Lindelof being a pile of ****e whilst Jones and Smalling looking like they're going to ve shown the exit. I was talking about this with my Brother In Law who's a Scum fan yesterday and he said they need him and the potential of having such a young player with potential to get better excites him. IMO Brighton are playing a dangerous game they could be three CBs down this summer with Lampard wanting Dunk and Duffy wanting to go to up to Celtic. If they wanto to refresh their back four then they need to pay a pretty penny especially as Citeh has payed £40 millon plus on Ake after Bournemouth have been relegated.
I ghink BHA are trying to force White into requesting a transfer. It seems they have no intention of keeping him and offering a crap contract to wind him up. Phil Hay says nobody but Leeds has asked about him yet media speculation is around Chelsea, Villa, Man Utd Liverpool, Man City, West Ham. like Wolves says a nice bidding war gets the price up but if White requests to leave he forgoes % of the fee and means more money for BHA Ben White has never played for BHA and never will. What a shyte club
Whilst I agree with your sentiments Doc I don’t think it’s all down to BHA More down to Shi* journalism offering click bait
