Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa is keeping a close eye on the club’s under-23 side as potential replacements for the senior team as he hopes to avoid spending in the January window, according to the Telegraph.
The newspaper claim on their website that the Argentine manager, as has been so often the case in his managerial career, is not wanting to recruit new players in January with the exception of a goalkeeper, Jamal Blackman’s broken leg leaving him with just one experienced option between the sticks.
Instead it is stated that he is keeping a close eye on the club’s reserve and youth team with the belief that fringe figures are more likely to show the desire he is looking for, while they will have also learned his methods, whereas a new signing would have to adapt.
Opinion
It might well be Bielsa’s preferred approach to signings in the mid-season transfer window but is it really going to bring the success that the Whites are hoping for this season? He might be a world renowned coach but his lack of trophies show that he might have done better by recruiting new talent to keep things fresh. Yes, he is awfully demanding of his players and a new signing would take time to acclimatise to that but sometimes quality can outweigh the need for cohesion in the side. However, there are plenty of young players who have already made that step up from Leeds’ under-23 side to the senior squad and so perhaps Bielsa is relying on the reputation of the club’s development in helping him find the right players to fill the void. There are actually very few areas in the starting XI which do need strengthening but some back up options for the first team squad would not go amiss. As for who they might be, only Bielsa knows, but the supporters should not be expecting fireworks in the transfer window this winter.