The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Fri 14th August) As Seagulls swoop for another centre back, Leeds monitor situation

[Ellandback1]

Good Morning. It's Friday 14th August, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...


Seagulls swoop for another centre back

Dutch media are reporting that Brighton have agreed a deal to sign NAC Breda defender Jan Paul van Hecke. This would be the second centre back the Seagulls have snapped up in recent weeks. Highly rated Joel Veltman signed from Ajax for £900,000 a fortnight ago. Van Hecke, 20, will sign for the seaside town for a fee of around €2m.

Brighton Manager Graham Potter already has Lewis Dunk, Adam Webster, Shane Duffy, Dan Burn, Matt Clarke, Veltman and Ben White at his disposal for next season. Could this signing indicate that they are ready to offload Ben White?

Does anybody else find it a bit disturbing that Leeds are mainly being linked to players worth between £10-20m, whilst teams like Brighton have a far cheaper shopping list? If Brighton were to say, White is yours for another £5m (£35m), would you accept?





Celtic want Douglas

Scottish Champions Celtic want to bring Leeds left back Barry Douglas to Celtic Park. The 30 year old has disappointed many having not been able to replicate the same form he did for Wolves three seasons ago. The former Scottish International signed for the Whites in the Summer of 2018 for 3m. He has one year left on his contract.





Leeds monitoring free agent

According to the YEP, Leeds are interested in former Bournemouth winger Ryan Frazer. The 26 year old walked away from the South Coast Club after his contract came to an end in the Summer. As a free agent, Frazer is looking to cash in. He is looking for £100,000 a week. Whilst that would smash Leeds wage structure, do Leeds actually need another winger?

[Byebyegeegee]

Brighton’s whole attitude to the Ben White saga is completely baffling to me (see my post yesterday), unless it’s their greed and them trying to take advantage of our perceived gullibility. £35m is far too much, if we’ve offered £27m as reported, then that is also far too much. It’s pretty certain he’s not going to be at Brighton next season judging by the number of central defenders they seem to be stockpiling, we should have stuck to our offer of £20m and called their bluff.

Wouldn’t be averse to Douglas going to Celtic tbh if the fee is ok.

No to Frazer thank you - £100000/week you must be joking!

[Sara]

BW in contract talks with Brighton now. If they don't meet his terms then we make a final bid. Don't think it's quite as sinister as has been made out.

[HarryofOz]

Is there a player on the planet who we have not been linked with?

[danhirons]

Re the Fraser 100k a week, obviously he's not worth 100k a week but when you factor in he's probably a 15 mill player, even on 100k a week it's only costing us 15 mill over 3 seasons. I'd definitely consider it (maybe 80ish K) and a relegation release clause

[1964white]

Is there a player on the planet who we have not been linked with?

We'll sign players we're not linked with Harry

[1964white]

Bit fed up discussing Ben White

[1964white]

I wonder if we can ask £10m for Douglas

We'll be lucky to get our money back

[Irish Ian]

Re Douglas
Seeing we will probably spend more time defending this season I reckon we need him.

Re White. I'm with Leon.

Re our scouting apart policy from buying cheap kiddies with the hope of finding a good one I don't get it.

[Chilli D]

Is there a player on the planet who we have not been linked with?

Which is why I hate pre season so much.
I made the decision when the season ended to only comment on players we have actually signed or those, in my opinion, we should try to sign.
Most of the stories going around will turn out to be absolute nonsense put out there by lazy journalists or agents.
The only difference this year from previous years is the players we are "linked" with are more expensive.

Barry Douglas looked much better after lockdown when he played and should stay and compete for the LB spot with Stuart Dallas.

[1964white]

Which is why I hate pre season so much.
I made the decision when the season ended to only comment on players we have actually signed or those, in my opinion, we should try to sign.
Most of the stories going around will turn out to be absolute nonsense put out there by lazy journalists or agents.
The only difference this year from previous years is the players we are "linked" with are more expensive.

Barry Douglas looked much better after lockdown when he played and should stay and compete for the LB spot with Stuart Dallas.

Dallas is a far better option at LB, makes assists & scores goals. We generally looked better & rarely lost games when Stuart was in our back four

Watching a clip of the players training yesterday Stuart was faster than all his teammates, looks as fit as a butchers dog

[andrewjohnsmith]

Who knows with Douglas? Depends what Marcelo has in mind - we'll never know that. Douglas was behind Dallas and Alioski at the end of last season. But that could be Leeds knowing that Champonship defences camp out against us. In the Premier League he might like Douglas better. If he is third choice, then I'd definitely pick up the phone when Celtic call.

Ben White - yes, too expensive. That Brighton are buying cheaper options, not too bothered. We've bought cheap defenders and we know they're not first team ready yet. The tricky thought on White is that he's worth more to us than other teams. When a lot of teams bid on White, they'll question how he'll fit into the system, the dressing room, the city. We already know he's a perfect fit for us, which is why BHA feel they can get more from us. I still say 30m is too much though, and we should be looking at 10m or so for an alternative.

Ryan Fraser - would love to have him. 100k is too much. Yes, we save millions on a transfer fee. But how does it look in the dressing room if he makes more than double everyone else. What if he's making that money, but Bielsa picks Costa and Harrison first? If we could give him 50k, and a huge signing bonus, then maybe, but otherwise, no.

[lufc1304]

If Celtic want to buy an injured and inconsistent Douglas, then let them have at it.

Also sick of the whole Ben White saga. £20m tops; any more and we should walk away, Brighton are taking us for mugs.

No thanks on Frazer at that wage.

[Fridge]

Ben White is looking to be too expensive for me, even if Brighton decide they will sell.

Celtic can have Douglas for me. Decent player but we have a few options at LB already.

Fraser’s wages are expensive but could be justified as he would be coming in on a free. I question his attitude though as he refused a short-term contract extension at Bournemouth for selfish reasons. Good player though, could be great for us if at his best.

[HarryofOz]

We'll sign players we're not linked with Harry

Almost certainly

[HarryofOz]

Which is why I hate pre season so much.
I made the decision when the season ended to only comment on players we have actually signed or those, in my opinion, we should try to sign.
Most of the stories going around will turn out to be absolute nonsense put out there by lazy journalists or agents.
The only difference this year from previous years is the players we are "linked" with are more expensive.

Barry Douglas looked much better after lockdown when he played and should stay and compete for the LB spot with Stuart Dallas.

Yep, good thinking. My memory may be faulty and ˆI know there are rumours in every transfer window, but I'm sure there are more this time round. Two or three new players every day.

[Richard]

My concern is no new first team players have been brought in before the players reported back for training. We know how Bielsa likes to bed them in.