Leeds failed with a £4.5m bid for Liverpool attacker Ryan Kent last month, according to Mirror journalist David Anderson, and fans have had a mixed reaction to the claim.
Kent was one of the top targets for Leeds this summer and while they succeeded in bringing Marcelo Bielsa’s other three targets – Ben White, Helder Costa and Jack Harrison – to the club, Kent ended up joining Rangers on deadline day.
The Scottish club paid £6.5m with an extra £1m in add-ons to hit the Liverpool valuation of £7.5m.
Anderson said, “From what I’m told on Merseyside, Leeds failed with a £4.5million bid for Ryan Kent last month. Kent joined Rangers for a fee rising to £7.5million.”
From what I’m told on Merseyside, Leeds failed with a £4.5million bid for Ryan Kent last month. Kent joined Rangers for a fee rising to £7.5million. #lfc #lufc
— David Anderson (@MirrorAnderson) September 3, 2019
Leeds ended up signing Eddie Nketiah on loan from Arsenal instead, after The Athletic journalist Phil Hay said, “From what I’m told, unless someone else was to leave it will be Nketiah or Kent, not both.”
Nketiah has already scored three in four games and Leeds seemingly needed a striker more than another winger after Kemar Roofe left in the summer to join Anderlecht.
However, you can’t please all the fans all the time and some are upset with the Anderson claims.
Here are the best reactions from Twitter:
Trying to do it on the cheap again what a shock?
— topman (@4EVAWHITE) September 3, 2019
Loans united ????
— Ray (@leedsinyork) September 3, 2019
Get a player on loan for 12 months or a player on a 4 year contract,we took the cheap option its as simple as that
— Lee Womersley (@leewom83) September 3, 2019
Two Leeds fans think that their club just went for the cheaper option, while another isn’t impressed with the reliance on loans.
One said, “Trying to do it on the cheap again what a shock” while another said Leeds went for a player on a one-season loan rather than someone they could have owned for four years.
That’s a fair point and there’s always an inherent risk with loan deals, but Nketiah has been great for Leeds so far. He came on late in the game against Brentford and secured the three points with a late winner.
He hasn’t started in the Championship yet but with Patrick Bamford blanking against Swansea last weekend then he could well get his shot soon.
Leeds have a lot of options on the wing including Jack Harrison, Jack Clarke, Helder Costa and Pablo Hernandez. With Roofe gone and if Bamford picked up an injury, Bielsa would have had no recognised senior striker available to him if they hadn’t signed Nketiah. The Arsenal youngster might have been the cheaper deal but it’s also the one that made the most sense.
Would rather have eddie anyway
— lufc (@stuartmyershot1) September 3, 2019
https://twitter.com/yonyteboah/status/1168863146079150081
Good. Not with that kind of money. Even 4.5 seems a tad too high.
— Simon O'Rourke (@simon_orourke) September 3, 2019
It’s alright we got Eddie ?
— Nathan Phillips (@NathanP92) September 3, 2019
And rightly so. We needed a goalscorer now all that has to happen is he starts more regularly
— Jason LUFC (@jasonoflynn11) September 3, 2019
There are plenty of Leeds fans that think Nketiah was the right player of the two to sign.
One said, “We needed a goalscorer now all that has to happen is he starts more regularly”.
Nketiah has already proved that he’s got a striker’s instinct with two tap-in goals from crosses from fellow summer signing Helder Costa. He knows where the goal is and he will surely deliver for Leeds if and when he gets a starting run in the Championship.