OPINION
Leeds United fans need not fear as attacker Tyler Roberts will eventually prove that the club were right to pay £4million for him in January.
The Whites’ director of football Victor Orta must have been patting himself on the back when he welcomed the promising 19-year-old centre-forward to Elland Road from West Bromwich Albion in the last transfer window.
Leeds paid £4million,as reported by the Daily Mail, to secure Robert’s services and handed him a four-and-a-half-year deal for him to sign.
It looked like an excellent acquisition masterminded by Orta as the player clearly had the potential to fire the Whites up the league in the second half of the season.
However fast-forward four months and Leeds are sat a disappointing 14th in the table and Roberts is nowhere to be seen.
In fact the 19-year-old forward is yet to feature for the club since joining, due to a shin injury, as reported the Daily Express, keeping him from making his debut.
Fans are rightfully fearing that the club’s £4million investment has been a complete waste of money for this season.
While there’s no denying that the money spent on Roberts hasn’t helped this season, supporters shouldn’t write him off just yet.
This is even the case when you consider the update manager Paul Heckingbottom provided regarding the 19-year-old’s injury ahead of Leeds’ game with Queens Park Rangers on Sunday.
“Has progressed really well, but would be foolish to take a risk on him now,” said the Leeds manager, as quoted by Leeds Live.
“Would have been nice, but priority is getting him fit for next season, won’t be going to Myanmar.”
While it’s nice to hear that Roberts is making progress, it’s worrying that he won’t even be able to take part in the club’s trip to Burma next week.
With Leeds set to take on a National League all-star team and Burma’s national team, as reported by the Daily Mail, it would have been the ideal games for him to feature in.
It may be disappointing to wait until next season but given Robert’s talent he is worth the wait.
The teenage forward will be among the goals for Leeds during the next campaign and once he gets over this shin injury, it will be smooth sailing for his career at Elland Road.
Roberts is capable of scoring the goals needed for a Championship side to have a successful season, even if he only scored nine goals in 19 games for League One’s Walsall earlier this season when on loan.
Also it’s worth remembering that Roberts is only 19-years-old and given his age, he’s destined to get better which will cause his value to grow.
Therefore Leeds fans must not fear as Orta hasn’t wasted £4million by signing Roberts even after Heckingbottom confirmed that the forward wouldn’t be fit for the Burma tour.