Good Morning. It's Friday 19th July, and here are the Leeds Utd headlines
James Chester rumour
According to several tabloids, Leeds are in talks with Aston Villa about the availability of James Chester. The 30yo centre back is surplus to requirements at Villa Park following the arrival of Tyrone Mings for 20m.
Dean Smith has already splashed 100m on players this Summer, and must be under some pressure to bring some revenue in.
Based on the fact that Leeds sold Jansson for 4m, supposedly for FFP reasons does this story hold any credence? Why wouldn't Leeds renew their interest in Aiden Flint, who appears to be off to Cardiff City for just 3m!
Whelan -'The owner has to take blame for this'
Noel Whelan has spoken out against Andrea Radrizzani about Roofe's unresolved contract.
Does our former hitman have a point? Why wasn't his contract extended last Christmas?You don’t let your top scorer for the last two seasons run his contract down to the final year. That needs looking at from Leeds. The way the club deal with contracts for players has to be changed. Leeds have left themselves unprotected with Roofe. The owner has to take the blame for this. Whoever deals with contracts on the board has to take responsibility.
Roofe is probably worth £8-10m, but because he has only a year left on his contract, his value has dropped to £5million. That’s absolutely nothing these days. That’s a drop in the ocean for Premier League clubs and even big Championship ones. Leeds should have agreed a new contract with Roofe by last Christmas at the latest.
In other news...
Leeds are planning on capturing France Under-19 international defender Enzo Valentim. The 18yo right back plays for for Reims II in the fourth tier of French football.
Samuel Saiz has gone. He's joined Spanish side Girona for an undisclosed fee believed to be 2.5m. (What would Jansson and Saiz have been worth 12 months ago)?
Alex Machuca and Oriol Rey are both off to Spain.
Pawel Cibicki is on his way back to ER after Elfsborg tell Leeds they don't have any money!!!
Victor Orta has publically said that he is confident that Kalvin Phillips and Kemar Roofe will sign new contracts at Elland Road.