Fleetwood Town manager Joey Barton has admitted that he has not heard of Leeds United left-back Laurens De Bock, despite the defender being linked with a loan move to Highbury.
The Sun claimed via their print edition [Sunday 29 July, page 63] that Fleetwood are “keen” on a temporary deal for the 25-year-old, but that now appears to have been ruled out by the League One club’s manager.
Barton did say that he could do with some extra depth at left-back, but due to his lack of knowledge about Leeds’ £1.5million (Yorkshire Evening Post) January signing, it seems that a move to Fleetwood is unlikely.
“Never even heard of him,” Barton said, as quoted by the Blackpool Gazette when asked about the De Bock speculation.
“I think we would always look to improve the squad, we have got competition for places in many areas.
“I think we could do with strengthening maybe in that left-back slot.”
OPINION
It’s no wonder that Barton has not heard of De Bock – has has been useless for Leeds since signing in January. Victor Orta wasted £1.5million of the club’s money on the 25-year-old in the winter when there were clearly much better options who would be available on loan from the Premier League or who already had Championship experience. It turned out that Tom Pearce was a better option all along, with the inexperienced academy product putting the Belgian first teamer to shame. De Bock made just seven appearances in all competitions for Leeds last season, struggling to get into the starting line-up due to his poor form and injury issues. The left-back’s horror show against Derby is the prime example of just how poorly he did at Elland Road. Fleetwood would be a weird move for someone who was playing in Belgium’s top-flight for the eventual 2017/18 champions Club Brugge this time last year, but it does not look as though that will happen now.