Good Morning. It's Tuesday 31st January, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Roma seal Llorente move Diego Llorente is in Rome ahead of his deadline day move to Serie A giants Roma. The 29yo only penned a new deal last month, which would have seen his stay extended to the Summer of 2026, but Jose Mourinho has other idea's. The finer details of the deal have been challenged by Elland Road journalist Phil Hay. Multiple reports are insisting that Roma have an option to buy him at the end of the season, whilst Hay suggests they have an obligation to purchase the former Real Madrid man, with Leeds expecting to recoup,at least the £18m they paid for him in 2020 At the time, Bielsa and Orta almost came to blows regarding the former Real Madrid man. The Argentine didn't want him, but Orta insisted. Various reports indicate the two would often squabble, but Bielsa would normally have the final say. On this occasion however, Orta refused to back down. please log in to view this image Monteiro joins Whites Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has suggested that teen sensation Diogo Monteiro will be unveiled as a Leeds Utd player after passing his medical tests yesterday. The 18yo centre-back is expected to initially team up with the U21's, but also act as a replacement for Diego Llorente who's joins Roma later on today. Victor Orta has had his eye on Monteiro for a while, but had to wait until he turned 18, before prising him away from Servette. Let's hope he has as much potential as the last time Leeds raided a Swiss outfit. please log in to view this image Winter Transfer window - a resounding success for the Whites Spending big this transfer window was unavoidable. Leeds needed to strengthen their squad significantly if they are to stand a chance of avoiding the drop, come May. Whilst it's admirable that the club have built an academy that most clubs in Europe would be enviable of, it doesn't help the club in it's present predicament. The gulf between the U21's and the first team line up is still a way off for the likes of Greenwood, who will slip down the pecking order after the arrival of McKennie. Andrea Radrizzani has put his money where his mouth is this transfer window, and has hopefully given the club, and it's supporters the impetus it needs to pull clear of the bottom three, and avoid a relegation dog fight. Elland Road journalist Phil Hay believes the Winter transfer window has been a rousing success for the Whites, scoring them a nine out of ten for their achievements this month, though much will depend on what happens on the field between now and our last game of the season, at home against Spurs on May 28th. "It would have to be a very high score. Nine, probably. OK, that will depend entirely on how successful each signing proves to be but the only slight gripe is that if Wober plays as a left-sided centre-back, it remains to be seen whether Leeds can shore up the left-back role — a position which has been a problem for them." "But they needed cover in that area, they needed a forward, which they got in Rutter, and to look at their options before McKennie’s arrival, they needed more in the heart of midfield: Adam Forshaw has struggled with injury again this season and Sam Greenwood is often the first central midfielder off the bench. The American strengthens this squad significantly." "Without a doubt, Llorente going to Roma was a bolt from the blue. He only signed a new contract at Christmas but Leeds did that in part to keep his transfer value as high as possible. Beyond him? Probably not. Not at first-team level anyway." please log in to view this image
Morning Bye bye Diego. I don't think much of the fan base will miss him. Is this winter window a resounding success? It's been good hopefully we can sign a LB and another winger if we sell Harrison. Before we deem this window let's see how we go in the next few weeks and where we finish in the table.
Will wait until the transfer window has closed before passing comment. Only a few hours to go so hopefully no outgoings.
Good Morning to Matt and co from a sunny chilly Bardsey WE STILL MAYBE LOOKING TO REPLACE HARRISON who is wanted by Leicester AND AS i SAID WATCHING HIM SCORE ON SATURDAY I think he wants to go BUT I think it was good window lets hope this is proven I do hope Fripo come good
Best January window for decades and the players brought in are all top notch. McKennie will be awesome for us, Wober looks like the glue for the defence and Georginio Rutter looks like he will be a massive threat and will create panic, assists and score goals. Young Montero has plenty of potential too, so all good. For me Harrison is either excellent or frustratingly greedy, slow to see a pass, runs into dead ends. He has however been more effective than Aaronson in the middle but against poor opposition. Cash in we won’t miss him as we have Gnonto, Sinisterra, Summerville as well as Rutter who can play there Zaniolo is a top top player and we were linked to him earlier in the window. WHU, Bournemouth, Forest, Spurs also in the frame and B/Mouth actually offered the asking price but the player refused. He is rumoured to want a top Italian side or a Spurs/Liverpool type club. He has been special everywhere he’s played and a fans favourite, but under Jose’ he ended up getting a bad knee injury and hasn’t got on with him. He was left out a lot and Jose talking about him in the press. Zaniolo has tried to put his version over and he has now lost patience with the club. I believe he has had 2 bad knee injuries so a bit of a gamble and he doesn’t fit our age group criteria.
Jack Harrison has had a poor season by his standards but has made 20 appearances with 2 goals and 7 (yes 7) assists. That's a goal involvement approx 1 every 2 games and yet doesn't usually play the full 90 minutes and some of those appearances are from the bench. He's good. I understand us allowing him to leave given the other players we have but for the love of God not to someone in the bottom half of the table.
Great window so far and can't see much changing today. While I feel we must be in a great position to pull clear of relegation with this squad, it's worth remembering other clubs have probably strengthened. I haven't and don't bother keeping an eye on what the bottom eight have been up to in the market. That'll probably be obvious soon enough. For me, Everton are a week late sacking Lampard and appointing Dyche as they've no time to get anything worthwhile done in the market
I hope he can play left back! I think we genuinely have some kind of allergy to left backs at this point. It's getting very strange.
My in-depth desk research over the course of several minutes has identified that zaniolo did both acls a while back but had no problems with them since. He hasn't had a great season but is playing in a mourinho team - which tends not to showcase attacking talent. Regarded as a top talent and given the fact he's 6'3 and built like a tank - many think quite well suited to the physicality of the premier league. Left footed, but decent with right. Great touch, no real pace, can play 8,10 or inverted right winger.
After this window we have some great options in midfield and upfront now. Not necessarily this order but you'll know what I mean. Gnonto- Rodrigo- Sinisterra or Summerville- Bamford- Rutter. Harrison or Aaronson in free roles McKennie - Adams - Roca 2 from these The new Portuguese lad seems to have bags of potential and knows how to pass a ball out of defence. If we could just find an out and out LB, this window would have to be deemed a great sucess. To succeed you need 2 players for each position, so at what we're supposedly been offered, I'd definitely keep Harrison. If we stay up and manage to keep all the above, all our summer transfers should be to strengthen the back 4, then we could certainly be looking at being one of those regular 7th-10th placed teams.
One thing I looked at during the WC was any potential signings we could make at LB, other than a few that were at top clubs already, non stood out.