Good Morning. It's Wednesday 28th August, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road
Solomon will wreak havoc in the Championship
Manor Solomon will 'wreck havoc in the Championship', that's the observation of Spurs journalist Alasdair Gold.
The Israeli International penned a season long-loan with the Whites agreeing to pay his £2.5m salary as part of the deal. Whether he can reach the same heights as last season are debateable. He looked rusty in pre-season, which was a contributing factor why Spurs allowed him to be lent out!
Even so, Leeds had to fight off late interest from Dutch giants Ajax, though it's been well documented that Solomon wanted to stay in England. Leeds have landed a massive upgrade on Jaiden Anthony; they now need to get the 25yo fit, and firing on all cylinders!
According to Gold:
"Leeds are getting a Premier League-level player once he finds his sharpness and rhythm again and for Manor Solomon he's playing at a Premier League-level club that just happens to have fallen down a step at the moment.
"He always wanted to remain in England and get himself back on track and this is a good deal for all parties. "That knee injury. It's as simple as that. He would have got plenty of game time otherwise last season. Spurs only got to see him in six matches before a non-contact injury in training took him out of action for months and then a setback followed when he tried to come back at first towards the end of the campaign.
"That meant he was out from late September onwards and when he finally came back this summer after 10 months or so out, he looked understandably rusty, which is something that hopefully he will shake off with some regular minutes."
"He's a tricky winger with a low centre of gravity and bit of explosive acceleration. He contributed a couple of assists early on for Spurs before his injury and that was going to be the key, whether he could continue to find consistency in the final third, something that maybe wasn't always there at Fulham.
"That bit of explosive pace didn't appear to be there in pre-season for Spurs, which led to some quite muted performances but as I said above, hopefully that was just the 25-year-old shaking off the rust and probably trying to gain a bit of confidence in his body again after so long out."
Leeds told to stump up £18m for Hamer
Sheffield Utd have told Leeds that they will need to stump up £18m if they want to sign Gus Hamer.
The news comes less than 48 hours after Chris Wilder's angry outburst, claiming that Leeds bid of £13m was miles away from getting accepted. The discrepancy is actually well within their budget, and could very well cause a rift between Wilder and the Sheffield Utd board if the 49ers were to up their offer!
The Blades wouldn't place a price-tag on their talisman unless they were open to losing his services. Without him, Sheffield Utd's promotion push is more or less over, and risk the wrath of not just Wilder, but their entire fan base!
Joffy to Plymouth?
Wayne Rooney's Plymouth Argyle are eyeing up a bid to take Joe Gelhardt to Home Park before Friday's deadline.
The 22yo has only made two appearances under Daniel Farke's tenure, and slipped further down the pecking order. He had a relatively impressive pre-season, but is unlikely to break into the gaffers plans anytime soon.
Whether it be a loan move or permanent, Leeds should be open to offers. He has two years left on his five year deal, and is in desperate need for first team football! If successful, he'll join up with Darko Gyabi who is enjoying a season long loan with the West Country outfit!
