Up to 5 signings

[whiteswan]

I think we need an injection of reality when we talk about replacing the likes of Ayling. The next level involves clubs that spend up to 50 million on full backs, and pays them up to 200k a week. Even a "selling club" like Leicester will spend 20 million plus on a full back and pay them the bones of 100k a week. Why throw money and risk ruining morale, when Ayling has been a key part of the rise of Leeds and the Bielsa system?

If I was sitting in the Leeds dressing room looking at Luke Ayling who has been in the trenches beside me for 2 seasons, on crap days against Wigan, who has fought as hard as anyone to drag the club into the top 10 and not looked out of place. And if I thought the club was relegating him and taking a punt on some unknown to "get us to the next level" paying them double my wages, that wouldn't inspire me, that would upset me.

Like this....gives his all does Luke

[Ron Swanson]

Ayling has proven to be perfectly adequate at this level.

You can seek to retain the values of the side and club without being overly sentimental.

Lads like Cooper, Dallas etc have been regular starters, and won't be on silly money.

Forshaw and Kiko would be the first two to go, though we'd probably have to subsidise the salaries of both.

It does seem that these days the club plans well forward when it comes to contracts - I'd certainly like to see us have discussions with Meslier, Struijk etc to ensure that they are on appropriate salaries, and tied down for sufficiently long periods.

[Mountain]

I would sell Alioski and not buy Harrison, as I think we need an upgrade on that left wing.Harrison is far too hit and miss for me.

I think Harrison can be bought for about 10 million. To replace him and take a punt on a decent winger to get into the next level is what...40 or 50 million and 150k per week? I think Arsenal, Chelsea and co went far beyond that for decent wingers, some of them not as good as Harrison.

I really would not blow the transfer budget on the marginal gain (and huge risk, think of Pepe) in bringing in a player to replace Harrison.

I know people will point to Raphinha but here's the thing, he turned out well, but no top 10 club looked at him last summer. And to buy him from Leeds now he has shown he can play at that level would cost the bones of what...40 or 50 million?

[Ron Swanson]

A player as good as Harrison would cost much more than £10m.

If the deal is there to be done and he's up for it... seems like a no brainer to me.

He's had a couple of crap games and needs to learn to score tap ins (Leicester aside), but he's improving all the time.

The miss against Man Utd still haunts me.

[Leeds1000]

5 players. A few of the young u23's will be considering their futures then in the off season. Unless we buy lots more U23's that is?

LB, BTBM, CF paramount for me.

[Cjay]

The 5 positions i think and have seen mentioned by journos are.

Goalkeeper
Left back
Defensive midfield/centre midfield.
Attacking midfield
Left winger

I think thats sensible.

On the one hand you dont want to many changes over night, but on the other hand you cant stand still at this level.

Players get a bit older, teams get a bit wiser, 2nd season syndrome isnt a myth its very real and standing still is the worst thing you can do.

We have a lot of players who will be 30ish by the time next season starts.

Ayling, Cooper, Dallas, Klich, Ali, plan now rather than be caught out later imo.

One of the key differences that seperates a good Premier league player from an average one is consistency.

Look at Harrison and Raph for example and Raph is the blueprint for the level we need ( Raph is a month younger than Harrison also).

And also keeping Raph means we have to show ambition and cant be sentimental.

He is a level above everyone else we all know that and he knows that.

Im sure he understands that and accepts it for now but eventually it will piss him off seeing his good work wasted every game more often than not.

To progress we have to keep our best players and to keep them you have to show willing to bring the rest of the team up to their level.

Having a quality AM to link with and a quality LW to swap with would show that and with left back those would be my priorities.

[Ron Swanson]

Would you bring in a keeper to compete with Meslier or an experienced back up/mentor?

I’m not convinced you’d get anyone sufficiently good enough to do the former without spending a significant sum...

[bremnerboy28]

For me a creative midfielder would be the priority, we do lack that little bit extra in there when we face a low block and struggle to take advantage of all the possession or a high press when there's no outlet for the defence to release it to someone who can turn and run at the opposition to give us something different to the often predictable patterns of passing. Rodrigo de Paul did look the perfect signing but not sure if Leeds were really serious about it at the time, time will tell.
A left back is another must, I can't stand another season having heart murmurs everytime Alioski plays there. You could say Dallas is first choice but he's so useful all over the pitch that we need another one. I thought Leif Davis would have been given more of a chance but Bielsa doesn't seem to trust him yet.
Paddy needs competition. If he'd have had a long term injury this season we certainly wouldn't be in 10th.
Wingers are fine, Harrison and Costa both very talented but not consistent enough yet but then how many wingers are consisitent, seem to be a thing with that position.
Back up keeper needed, can't see Casilla stopping another season on bench.
Don't think we need cover for Kalvin, Koch and Llorente can easily do that job.
We certainly need a stronger bench next season to affect games more when needed while equally showing faith in the kids we've spent so much time and money on. Difficult balancing act.

[Smudge3920]

I think we need an injection of reality when we talk about replacing the likes of Ayling. The next level involves clubs that spend up to 50 million on full backs, and pays them up to 200k a week. Even a "selling club" like Leicester will spend 20 million plus on a full back and pay them the bones of 100k a week. Why throw money and risk ruining morale, when Ayling has been a key part of the rise of Leeds and the Bielsa system?
Excellent points, and IMO Radz has proved himself to be a very "savvy" owner/businessman.

If I was sitting in the Leeds dressing room looking at Luke Ayling who has been in the trenches beside me for 2 seasons, on crap days against Wigan, who has fought as hard as anyone to drag the club into the top 10 and not looked out of place. And if I thought the club was relegating him and taking a punt on some unknown to "get us to the next level" paying them double my wages, that wouldn't inspire me, that would upset me.
Again looking at it from all angles, IMO again, MB is not the type of manager to discard loyal and excellent players, because the cheque book has opened...and I agree after the route to get where we are now, dumping and spending would send the wrong messages at this time.

Overman wrote...
But you're not sat in the changing room and can only assume that's what the reaction may be. Football is often fickle and transient game, people move on.
Most comments on here are assumptions, as none of us are fully in the know... you can lose the dressing room very easily ...ask Fwat Fwank.

Chapelallman wrote...
I would sell Alioski and not buy Harrison, as I think we need an upgrade on that left wing.Harrison is far too hit and miss for me. Alioski's contract is up soon anyway, so better to cash in now. I don't really rate Alio as either a winger or a LB.
Alioski is indeed a strange one, and I think that has already been cleared up by MB, who said " if he picks Leeds, Leeds will pick him", decision in Ali court. To replace Harrison it will cost you a lot more than the 10 mill we have guarenteed as a figure. IMO would be ludicrous to ditch Harrison.

IMO Cooper has one more year as a starter...Ayling and Dallas at least 2 more years....Fingers crossed based on the last 2 showings from Costa he has re-found his "mojo", if he can keep it up and show it is not just a phase then happy days.
With Kock. Llorente and Rodrigo fit that is almost like 3 new players, this late in the season...Struijk I am convinced is going to excell, and then we have the "youngsters", Cresswell, Summerville, Gelhardt and Huggins who if they have to spend another year in the U23's may start to get itchy feet and I would hate to lose anyone of them

So IMO we do not need to spend rashly for the sake of spending;
Priority... A back up for Mes, A L(W)B and a DM/CM.

I believe we have enough cover for Bamford in Rodrigo, Roberts and Gelhardt.

Life is indeed looking good...Happy days ...MOT

[Lumiukko]

Not much to add, but I think 5 signings is overkill given that we have several of our talented players due back. 3 or max 4 and we should be set. In order of priority LB, Attacking Mid, Defensive Mid, and an experienced backup/mentor GK.

With the seeming talent of some of the U23s mentioned previously (Gelhardt, Huggins, Summerville, Cresswell) and I'd also add Drameh and Greenwood to that list too, we need to see some of these get a few minutes to see where they stand but I get the feeling at least a couple of these are ready to make the step up.

I'd stick with Harrison as he just needs consistency, but otherwise knows the system and does have talent. Costa, we'll hopefully see if he's got the fight (we know he has talent) over the next few games. Dallas, Coops, and Ayling, they're going nowhere fast even if they slowly find themselves playing second fiddle as they're plenty good enough to see minutes next season. Plus we need a decent squad of good and experienced players to actually do a proper cup-run next yer, something I think we'd all like to see after the slim pickings the last few years.

[Irish Ian]

5 more players in means at least 5 players out. Plus we would expect to see a couple of the U23s breaking through? Joffy, at least.

Ailisoki
Pablo
Gotts
Stevens
Edmonson
Leif Davis
Casey
Forshaw
Temenuzhkov
Hosannah
Mujica

I could see most of that lot being moved either into the loan market or offed.

[CHAPELALLMAN]

Re Jack Harrison, I have to say that at the time I didn't think the club should buy Costa ( though we were probably obligated anyway ) and look at how that has turned out. I think few people at the time would have agreed with my opinion. Costa may yet turn out to be an asset, but so far it hasn't worked out either in terms of value for his transfer fee or for his high wages.

10m does seem quite cheap for Jack, however I think if you can find a decent continental player for a reasonable fee ( as we did with Raph ) then IMO it's better to invest the money that way and end up with a more consistent LW. Would you have sooner spent 10m on JH or 17m on Raph ? We upgraded on the RW and there's no reason why we can't upgrade on the LW.

Given how quickly Raphinha has adapted to the system I don't see JH ' knowing the system ' as being a valid reason to spend 10m on him. Sometimes I think the ' knowing the system ' argument is a bit overplayed anyway given that many teams now play high presses, possession football etc. In the modern game wingers are expected as a matter of course to track back with the opposition FBs and to often act as inverted wingers as opposed to the old fashioned concept of a winger hugging the touchline, making a run to the byeline to put a cross in and generally staying high up the field. FBs are now hybrid wingers, and wingers are hybrid FBs. This is why Raph has fitted so easily into the system.

[gessa]

5 more players in means at least 5 players out. Plus we would expect to see a couple of the U23s breaking through? Joffy, at least.

Ailisoki
Pablo
Gotts
Stevens
Edmonson
Leif Davis
Casey
Forshaw
Temenuzhkov
Hosannah
Mujica

I could see most of that lot being moved either into the loan market or offed.

I read Bielsa is an admirer of Robbie Gotts and he's in his future plans.

[Irish Ian]

I read Bielsa is an admirer of Robbie Gotts and he's in his future plans.

Definitely his favourite bench warmer.

[gessa]

Definitely his favourite bench warmer.

Apparently doing very well at Salford

[Mountain]

10m does seem quite cheap for Jack, however I think if you can find a decent continental player for a reasonable fee ( as we did with Raph ) then IMO it's better to invest the money that way and end up with a more consistent LW. Would you have sooner spent 10m on JH or 17m on Raph ? We upgraded on the RW and there's no reason why we can't upgrade on the LW.

Given how quickly Raphinha has adapted to the system I don't see JH ' knowing the system ' as being a valid reason to spend 10m on him. Sometimes I think the ' knowing the system ' argument is a bit overplayed anyway given that many teams now play high presses, possession football etc.

I would have said that the whole point about Raphinha is that he is very much the aberration, not the norm.

Even looking at Leeds signings, Augustin, Rodrigo, Koch, Llorente...it's just as likely we could end up with another Jean Kevin Augustin as Raphinha. In fact he would be the only great success out of all the buys in the past year. And that's not just in Leeds, but across many clubs, he has so exceeded expectations that all pundits knows about him and he is getting much better reviews than say, signings like Pepe at Arsenal. The whole point about the Raphinha story is not that it was the norm, and a player was expected to do well and did, it's that it's so rare to see someone with that level of skill and ability available so cheaply. Now, lightning could strike again...but I'm not sure I'd risk it...

[CHAPELALLMAN]

I would have said that the whole point about Raphinha is that he is very much the aberration, not the norm.

Even looking at Leeds signings, Augustin, Rodrigo, Koch, Llorente...it's just as likely we could end up with another Jean Kevin Augustin as Raphinha. In fact he would be the only great success out of all the buys in the past year. And that's not just in Leeds, but across many clubs, he has so exceeded expectations that all pundits knows about him and he is getting jkuch better reviews than say, singers like Pepoe. The whole point about the Raphinha story is not that it was the norm, and a player was expected to do well and did, it's that it's so rare to see someone with that level of skill and ability available so cheaply. Now, lightning could strike again...but I'm not sure I'd risk it...

Well that comes down to the knowledge and judgement of the DOF. He certainly got it very right with Raph and very wrong with JKA. Costa may have been a mistake, but we can't be sure yet. Llorente looks like real quality, but if he has long term injury issues it may ultimately have been a mistake to sign him - only time will tell.

There is talk of us exchanging Rodrigo in the summer, so right now I'm not sure what to make of all that talk. On the other hand he seems to have a lot of quality. I thought we were buying him as a no 9, but obviously he's been used as a 10. Some people are saying that we need to buy a 10 though, so I'm a bit confused. We do look better in midfield with him in the side, and results without him have often been quite poor.

https://motleedsnews.com/comment/juvent ... las-costa/

[weasel]

Given the amount of running Harrison does in every match, especially the defensive side, and I am not surprised he has had a couple of flat performances. Last season was his first as a regular starter, then when you throw in the covid thing and he had to stay at peak fitness when we weren't playing matches as no one knew when the season would restart (not lazing on a beach like Karen Cairney would have you believe). After that and it was a short break and short pre-season followed by him again being a regular starter. As such he has gone from the odd start or sub appearance (or playing in the USA where the pace was likely a lot slower) to having started every game for nearly 2 seasons without a proper break.

I fully expect him to improve again next season and continue his upward curve in development. For all those heaping huge praise on Raphinha it is worth noting that Harrison has 6 goals and 4 assists compared to Raphinha's 5 and 5. Albeit Harrison has played 4 matches more but it is hardly a stark difference in terms of output. I hope we sign Harrison and if we do I can see people talking about him being worth £50m this time next year.

[Cjay]

We will sign Harrison, not even up for discussion imo whatever we all think about it.

Whether we sign another left winger and Harrison becomes a squad player which has been mentioned i dont know, i hope so.

I do disagree with Weasel, i dont see Jack being talked about as a £50mil player in the same way Raph is next season, or any season.

I dont think his end product will ever be that good and i dont think he will ever be consistent enough.

He is not a young man in footballing terms, 24 now and actually a month older than Raph, you would see it by now if he had that bit extra in him imo. The fact he works hard doesnt excuse his inconsistencies, the whole squad works hard, Raph is statistically one of the hardest working players in the league but he is yet to have a bad game.


I think he is a good squad player like Dallas, a do a job put a shift in sort, but if we have ambitions of top 6 he will need to be upgraded in the 1st 11 imo.

As an aside 17 year old Harvey Elliot on loan from Liverpool to Blackburn has the same number of goal involvements that Harrison managed (and more than Costa) with a 3rd of the season left.

Shows how unimpressive their numbers were in such an attacking and dominant team.

£10mil is ok for him, wouldn't go any higher.

[Ron Swanson]

Harrison & Costa lacked goals last season, however they weren’t helped by the fact that Bamford for large parts of the season couldn’t hit the side of a bus from five yards away.

His improvement this term has been huge.

Fewer chances, playing against better defenders and keepers... and yet he’ll score more this season, with eight fewer league fixtures.

Funny old game.