Thomas Christiansen has revealed that he wants Leeds United to sign more players this month – and has placed a new centre-forward top of his priority list.
Christiansen delivered an update on Leeds’ transfer plans on Friday morning after a blitz of new arrivals at the start of the January window.
Yorkshire Evening Post correspondent Phil Hay reported on his personal Twitter account that the manager has made a public U-turn on transfers and wants the club to recruit a new centre-forward before the end-of-month cut-off.
Christiansen wants more signings to follow Laurens De Bock, the left-back who joined from Club Brugges on Thursday.
A bit of a shift from TC on transfers – said that after De Bock he’d be pleased to see more signings arrive this month and would be happy if a was striker amongst them. #lufc
— Phil Hay (@PhilHayYEP) January 12, 2018
Leeds have signed five players this month, Belgian De Bock, Japan midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi, who has moved to Spanish club Cultural Leonesa on loan for the rest of the season, Finnish centre-back Aapo Halme, striker Oliver Sarkic and goalkeeper Kamil Miazek.
Three of the new arrivals are likely to spend the rest of the campaign with the Under-23s squad, with only De Bock in contention to challenge for a first-team spot.
OPINION
By Christiansen’s standards, his public admission that he wants a new centre-forward by 31 January is a stunning confession. He is usually a brick wall when it comes to delivering information, certainly in the public domain, and his shift of stance comes after he previously dismissed the possibility of signing a new striker this month. Leeds fans will be delighted that a forward could now come in, as Caleb Ekuban is injured, Jay-Roy Grot and Pierre-Michel Lasogga are both struggling badly for form and Kemar Roofe is more happy in an attacking midfield role. Without a 20-goal-a-season centre-forward, it is hard to see Leeds securing a top-six finish. Christiansen’s U’turn suggests he now shares that view.