Leeds do not have an option to sign centre-back Ben White on a permanent deal in the summer, according to Football Insider.
The football site, that’s broken a lot of Leeds stories this summer, claims that manager Marcelo Bielsa wanted Leeds to negotiate a loan-to-buy deal for the Brighton defender.
However, it seems that Brighton are convinced they have a future star on their hands and in “recent discussions” have told Leeds that it will remain a straight loan deal.
White has played 90 minutes in all three of Leeds’ Championship games so far this season and has made a big impression on fans.
TiF Tactics – number crunching
Leeds obviously got their scouting bang on with White, who had never played above League One before he moved on loan to Leeds.
He hasn’t looked out of place at all in the Championship, with some seriously impressive numbers that show why he works so well in the Bielsa system.
In the 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest, he made more passes than any other player in the game, along with the most interceptions and joint-most tackles. [Leeds United StatZone]
In the game against Salford in the EFL Cup he had a 90% pass accuracy along with the most ball recoveries (nine), clearances (seven) and blocked shots (three). He also had the second-most successful passes (49). [LUFCDATA]
Back to the Championship and, and according to stats site WyScout.com, he had an 88% pass accuracy in the 2-0 win against Wigan and won six of his 10 defensive duels, with 16 ball recoveries.
He’ll only get better for Leeds under the expert tutelage of Bielsa, but the bad news is he’s likely to return to Brighton over the summer and it’s the south-coast side who could benefit most from the deal.