We need to talk about our loan players and a lot of harsh decisions need taking. Its been yet another poor performance from players we sent out on loan. Early days yet but shoddy. Firstly Cresswell was spoken about by the wall manager this week. He said it was hard to drop Charlie as he has done really well and played the last 5 games. He said it’s hard for him having the club captain wanting his position back and thats the only reason he was rested. He also said Cresswell is a beast and going to be a great player and top talent. First team squad for me next season. Shackelton again down at Wall but now not getting the game time he was. He has played a number of positions and gives his all, but if you cannot hold down a spot in a Championship team you are not a prem player and getting on for 23yo now, he has to be sold but Milwall won’t be buying him. Dan James and Jesse Marsch did more damage to Gelhardt than anything. Using a winger ahead of Joffy has affected his game and in my view sent Joffy backwards. Now at the point where Joffy will need to go out on loan or be sold. Back to James though, he was bought as a winger but hardly played there for us in fact we didn’t need him but spending £25m on him meant Bielsa and then Marsch always tried to fit him in rather than sit him on the bench. This buy was as bad as the Big Kev buy in my view. A great lad, a hard worker but not a prem player and he cannot even get into the Fulham team. Fulham may also want to send him back in January because they are looking at another loan player and he and Shane Duffy are the agreed 2. He was pretty crap for Wales too and I think he would be best going to a newly promoted Burnley next season and starting again, but it will be a loss making move on this sale. Lewis Bate a strange one this because he’s a Chelsea academy player and very highly thought of.Chelsea offered him a new contract but he wanted to join Leeds as he saw Bielsa as a way to breaking through. We spent top money on him just over £1.5m and in the main his first season with the 23s went great as he was different gravy mostly. Remember he was playing in a depleted 23 side on its way to relegation so didn’t get to play much with Joffy, Summerville, Greenwood etc. then in the summer a very strange comment from new signing Aaronson backed up by Marsch (yet again bad communication) Aaronson said he was chuffed to be here and looking forward to playing with Lewis Bate? Then Bate was loaned out to Oxford? Bate has done quite well down there and now creating few assists and putting his foot in, not taking shyt from the seasoned players. This should do him good, but it does seem a long way back to the first team now. The main reason Bate left Chelsea is because he was behind Billy Gilmoure in the pecking order and where is wee Billy these days? Poveda from being the best signing we made (on paper) to a big waste of money in wages. We got him for nothing but gave him a big wage after we won promotion, but he couldn’t break into the first team really. We sent him out on loan to Blackburn last season and he started on fire scoring a goal and creating a couple of assists. He then got a very bad ankle and shin break and spent the rest of the season back at TA getting healed and fit again. He went back to Blackburn at the end of the season and played in the last couple of games. He was sent out on loan again but to Blackpool this time and he has struggled. Appleton the manager has had words with him about attitude, work rate etc and it now seems Poveda is getting back on track and hopefully he will make the starting line up soon as he is used right now as an impact sub. Needs selling pointless keeping him to pick up a wage Tyler Roberts at QPR is still out injured which is his 3rd injury since going to London. Suffice to say a striker with only 1 goal isn’t really helping their cause. We need to cut the umbilical on this player as QPR are not going to buy him and May yet send him back next month The other players out on loan have effectively left the club and won’t be back as contracts run out in May One final observation over the last month, concrete stories about Leeds speaking to player X have been very few. Obviously the usual clickbait stories never stop, like Traroe and Kent and Che Adams, but loads and loads of speculation which is to be ignored. So my view is either the club are going to gamble again or Orta is doing a great job keeping things under wraps
Of the players you mentioned, really only Cresswell and Bate are the ones on loan with a view to developing them for our first team. The rest are for release or sale if we can get any money for them.
Dan James now valued at £16m contract end date June 2026 Tyler Roberts now valued at £4m contract end date June 2024 Iain Poveda now valued at £1m contract end date June 2024 James we may see some money for if he can find a new club willing to match his wages, but Poveda and Roberts will run their contracts down I reckon
Sorry but we should have kept Dan James as he would have been a great asset coming off the bench this season. The alternative was to sell for £20M because the loan made no sense at all. Especially as his Leeds career is now finished because of it.
It was a strange one. It was very much pitched as we needed 1 in 1 out - like gnonto’s wages were going to tip us over the edge . If we didn’t want him we should have flogged him… maybe no one was ready to cough up.
Would Summerville have got his chance if James was unnecessarily shoehorned in front of him? Great decision to send James out imo. Harrison, Sinisterra and Summerville are better players. If James had stayed we would have been liable for his full wage. We probably wouldn't have got Gnonto because of the financial handcuffs of James wage. It is what it is. I think it's turned out OK.
Cresswell is the only one I hold hope for If we can get anything back on any of the others Id take it
In the summer we offered £35m for CDK it went on and on and then collapsed, we then tried for some striker in the south of France nobody had heard of and even sent a private plane. Fiasco followed and then we sent another plane to bring Gakpo back after offering £29m and that fell through in yet another fiasco. Then at the last minute Gnonto is announced for a few quid, yet had to get rid of James on the last day for a bit of one in one out. WTF was that all about, who was stumping up the big cash and if we could find that cash why did James have to fall on his sword. The whole striker episode was a fkg joke and nobody has given us any answers or even a clue what was going on
I think they have potential access to a different pot (49ers?) for investment players. CDK and gakpo they thought were buy for 30m sell for 60m players. basically trading on talent in the hope you get a couple of years from them and turn a profit. We all know the model but my take on it was the funds for them would have come from an investment pot not the usual budget. gnonto more of a low cost punt as it generally is with the younger lads, so the books needed balancing on him not claiming to know the ins and outs of it, or even if it’s correct - but that was my assumption … and even if it is correct it’s still hard to equate why a senior first team squad player like James would need need to go to let an 18 year old in.. that they weren’t sure was ready yet.
Milky that’s the weirdness of the Gnonto deal. Yes he was someone we were due to sign in the summer but because we needed a striker we brought Gnonto forward… however remember in the words of Marsch Gnonto is for the future and would be with the U21s. So why did James have to go as in theory we would have one man less in the first team squad. The who debacle was comedy gold. The investment pot you refer to is probably correct but 52% of it would be Radz cash with the 49ers stumping up 48% plus we know Radz was heavily involved in the CDK deal so must have had clearance from the 49ers right at the start of the summer window?
Sorry to disappoint you doc but between you and me 52% of my disposable cash isn’t a whole lot. I like to spend on enjoying myself rather than waste it on over rated footballers.
Exactly doc… made no sense to me. Especially with marsch was saying he didn’t want to lose James but the books needed balancing. My best guess is that they wanted James off the wage bill - not sure what he’s on but he came from the scummers so it will be a chunk. Gnonto coming in maybe gave them the excuse. So maybe they brought gnonto forward to justify letting James go. I imagine gakpo for James would have been Cost neutral wages wise.
Perhaps, just maybe there was more to Harrison to the toon than was in the press and the original plan was to keep James and sell Harrison to toon freeing up some cash for purchases in the process. The toon deal fell through, for whatever reason, meaning James was sent out on loan as the more expensive option of the two to keep and we didn't get any additional purchases. It makes as much sense as anything else I've read.
There were several reports before the World Cup that the 49ers were moving money around ready for the takeover, it seemed the right time too. Then more recently reports circulating that the Americans suddenly feel investing in PL teams is not such a great idea Freeing up James to sign Gnonto, the signs are not good for a busy transfer window unless we’re also selling again
We know gnonto was at best 3rd choice for this window at least… and the cheapest of the choices - so could mean there’s still some room for manoeuvre - though as risty says if we really were just balancing the budget it doesn’t fill you with expectation. Eric could be right re Harrison too. Basically we haven’t a clue. Which will come as no surprise to regular readers of not606
After reading Wakey’s thoughts on last nights game it’s fair to say a lot of our kids now seem to be getting favourable reviews, which means a lot more are thinking we have some kids who will make it, which is great news for the club. Wakey had Hjelde doing a good job and Drameh not so good but that seems to be the only variance between him and the hacks. So Gnonto, Gyabi and Greenwood all get good mentions as well as Joseph. The club surely still need a LB and striker in January and then some serious decisions in the summer. Will we have enough players to firm up midfield with those kids as well as Archie Gray who people have forgotten about. Not looking good though for Ayling, Forshaw and Cooper though is it
Ayling, Cooper, Forshaw you can’t squeeze them in and keep the youngsters happy. I’d be fine freeing up those three wages if the young lads are ready to step up. If we sign two decent players this window it would be a small miracle so I’d accept two good first team signings coming in, Forshaw, Klich, Cooper and Ayling out and the likes of Drameh, Hjelde and Gaby making the bench
