Good Morning. It's Wednesday 10th August, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road We do not want to be a selling Club - Radz For his latest podcast, Elland Road journalist Phil Hay (along with fellow Athletic reporter David Ornstein) travelled to Thorp Arch to Interview Whites Chairman Andrea Radrizzani. Fans have started to warm towards the Leeds owner in recent times, for giving a more honest and frank assessment of the goings-on behind the scenes at Elland Road, and less spin. In the interview, Radz stated that he didn't want Phillips to go, but felt he couldn't stand in his way when Manchester City came calling. He also defended his decision to sell Raphinha, so they could reinvest the money, but insisted that he doesn't want Leeds to become a 'selling club'. Once financially stable, the Leeds Chairman hopes the Whites will be able to keep hold of their top talent, but is looking to the 'medium - long term' future. “Over time we need to be better at keeping some players, this is not a forever strategy. In time I think we’ll be able to keep our best players and make them lifetime Leeds. For Kalvin Phillips it was a different situation to Raphinha, Kalvin Phillips could have stayed here all his life and become the next captain. I didn’t want to let him go, he decided to go and it was clear to me that it was his ambition to play at that level". "It’s a shame that Phillips has left Leeds, because he would have been one of the club’s great captains. Liam Cooper is, of course, a brilliant leader in his own right, but Phillips was Leeds through and through. A local lad come good, Phillips understood the club in a way no other player truly did, but sadly, his talents meant that he was destined to join a Champions League team". “With Raphinha it was more of a sacrifice to sell because we needed to buy players. We can spend £100million every year for three years and not have any income. The club will collapse. “In the medium to long term, we will be able to maintain some of the talent. We do not want to be selling our talent all the time. “The best model I think is the Leicester one so we need to be realistic and when there’s a possibility to build otherwise let go of some players at times.” please log in to view this image Nice and Rennes join race to sign PSG star Ligue 1 sides Nice and Rennes have joined the race to sign PSG starlet Arnaud Kalimuendo. The 20yo forward is surplus to requirements at 'Le Parc des Princes', though that's not to say that they will let him go on the cheap! The French giants have already turned down Leeds first offer of £16.5m, £4.5m shy of their asking price. Several reports are indicating that Victor Orta will increase their offer before the end of the week. Kalimuendo has bags of talent, but is unproven at the highest level. The majority of his price tag is down to the potential he possesses, hence PSG wanting a buy-back clause in the future. With the transfer window closing in just under three weeks, Leeds are desperate to capture a proven goalscorer, even if they have to break the bank to do it. Media reports are suggesting that Leeds have reserved a transfer kitty of 40m for the right player. please log in to view this image Leeds face a Dilemma up front Leeds are caught in a dilemma. They desperately want a top striker, but having missed out on their number one target (Charles De Ketelaere), have not been able to find a suitable alternative. They have been strongly linked to a host of forwards, though in reality, none are of the same quality as the former Club Brugge frontman. We saw last season what can happen when injuries take their toll, especially when suitable replacements are found wanting. On the flip side, they don't want to be in a position that they take a £20m punt on someone that they are not convinced about, like they did with Jean Kevin Augustin. They could bring in a cheaper player as a stop gap, but that is also not ideal. please log in to view this image
The striker situation is like this in my opinion. Number 1 preference after CDK is Arnuad Kalimuendo, but the problem is hes 20yo, and thats the same age as Joffy. The big difference is though is that Kalimuendo has played as a regular starter in the top French league and scores goals and creates goals. Joffy is very good but not got the experience of Kalimuendo yet. So they are peeing around and may actually gamble on Paddy and Joffy staying fit. Massive gamble. The other way to look at it is to see if a new striker can play anywhere else and AK can play out wide too, so possible to still get him on the pitch. Where was CDK going to play? Was it as a 10 or was it as a 9. If it was as striker then Paddy is on the bench because you dont spend nearly £40m and sit the player on the bench. If it was at 10 or on the wing you wouldn't spend £25m on Aaronson and leave him out so Rodrigo or James or Harrison sit it out.
There's a kid at QPR that banged one into the top corner from outside the box on his debut last night. Might be worth a look.
Morning all from a sunny wakey that feels no different to Greece. Heatwave?. As for a striker two words spring to mind.. Garden and path. The only way to bring one in is to sell someone. Will gelherdt be happy as third choice?.
An irrelevant argument Wakey as they'll all pick up several injuries, knocks throughout the season. Your no 2 then becomes no1 etc and gets to try make position his own or he picks up a knock. Its called competition for places and I don't buy into the argument at all that you can only have two for any position in case a third ones feelings are hurt
3 new contracts from the academy and new U21s Charlie Allen been here a while and settling into the midfield schemer role well. jerry Mullen up through the ranks and into the 21s and young Ombang we only brought in last Summer from Bradford City, played well for the 21s last week in goal
Wait till he moves up from the kids and that'll be more competition. If Paddy scores before xmas I expect him to be sold to Barca anyway
think what they liked with CDK was his versatility, 9,10 wide or midfield. Also marsch likes to play with 2 strikers so wouldn’t have to be replacement for paddy but could have been a partner. kalimuendo more of an out and out striker, though finishing seems to be his weakness the lad from turkey’s key strength is how cheap he is
so lets sum up how we are playing.we were going to be set up narrow said many posters but clearly are not..there was to be a small 18 man squad with younger players added.seems to me no one on here has a clue about what is going on at the club or who is coming in.
