Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Phil Hay has delivered a fairly frank verdict on the future of Leeds striker Kemar Roofe.
One Leeds fan asked him whether Roofe would be leaving after his side failed to win promotion to the Premier League.
Hay replied saying, “Going to be a question mark over him. Down to his last 12 months. Doesn’t have a new deal and would be due a substantial increase.”
Roofe ended the season as Leeds’ top scorer with 15 goals despite a season that was hampered significantly through injury.
going to be a question mark over him. Down to his last 12 months. Doesn’t have a new deal yet and would be due a substantial increase.
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) May 17, 2019
OPINION
Perhaps if Roofe had been fit for the second leg of the play-off semi-final, Leeds would now be contemplating a game against Aston Villa a week on Monday. As it is, they’re facing a rebuild without the lure of the Premier League. The tactic of waiting for contract talks with players like Roofe until the end of the season was a sound one. The last thing Leeds would have wanted to do is give players lucrative new contracts before they knew if they were getting promoted or not. And it’s unlikely that players like Roofe would have signed Championship-level deals while they were topping the table. However, Leeds now have to sort the Roofe situation out now or risk losing him for free next summer, which would be a disaster. Can they afford to offer him a lucrative new deal? We hope so as he’s the sort of player they have to hold onto if they’re going to win promotion next season. The fact Hay says there’s a question mark over him will be extremely worrying for Leeds fans ahead of another season in the second tier.