Leeds have agreed a £3.5m fee with Premier League outfit Burnley for second-choice goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell, according to the Yorkshire Evening Post.
Burnley came after Peacock-Farrell after agreeing to sell Tom Heaton to Aston Villa.
Peacock-Farrell had been looking for guarantees of more first-team football at Leeds but that was looking unlikely with Kiko Casilla expected to be Marcelo Bielsa’s first choice.
Leeds will try to bring in a replacement for the 22-year-old before the end of the transfer window next Thursday.
Good deal for Leeds?
On the face of it, getting £3.5m for a keeper who’s out of contract next summer and who had talked about leaving if he wasn’t number one, is great business. And the YEP have reported that Leeds have negotiated a sell-on clause too.
With Casilla staying, the former Real Madrid player was always going to be the club’s number one.
Leeds are looking for a replacement but it’s unlikely they’ll get anyone before their opening game of the season against Bristol City on Sunday. That means it will be a choice between Will Huffer and Kamil Miazek for the bench at Ashton Gate.
Ironically, Bielsa had to choose between these two because of injuries for the game against Bristol City at Elland Road last season. Huffer got the nod and went on to keep a clean sheet in the 2-0 win. He then sat on the bench for the following nine games but it was Miazek who made the bench against Millwall towards the end of the season.
Miazek had a really solid season with the Under-23s and was the hero as Leeds won the PDL play-off final, saving penalties from Birmingham’s Joe Redmond and Caolon Boyd-Munce. He’s happy playing with the ball at his feet – the Bielsa way – and the 22-year-old could well get the nod on Sunday. With his contract running out in 2020 he’s in the last-chance saloon.
Replacement?
One name that’s cropped up a lot with fans is Alex McCarthy from Southampton. The 29-year-old joined from Crystal Palace for just over £4m in 2016 and has made 50 appearances for the Premier League side, keeping 13 clean sheets.
He made 25 starts last season but was dropped for the final 12 games and didn’t make the squad for the last five.
Another option is to stick with Huffer and Miazek and use the money as part-payment for the only player of Bielsa’s four summer targets he hasn’t landed yet. [Yorkshire Evening Post]
Bielsa got Helder Costa, Ben White and Jack Harrison – that just leaves Ryan Kent, who Liverpool are unwilling to send out on loan again. Rangers can’t afford to sign him on a permanent deal and we wonder whether Leeds could structure a deal that would work for them using the £3.5m as an up-front payment. He’s available for a reasonable £7m reportedly, and a deal for him would go down very well with the fans.
Alex McCarthy From Southampton
— GJR ???????? (@GregJReilly09) August 1, 2019
Forster wouldn’t suit our style, McCarthy might
— Lewis Stant (@_LewisStant) August 1, 2019
Alex McCarthy
— Mark (@Mark1461) August 1, 2019