Leeds Live’s Beren Cross has been analysing Marcelo Bielsa’s current squad in an attempt to identify those with short, medium or long-term futures at the club.
Gaetano Berardi joined the Whites from Sampdoria back in July 2014 in a deal reportedly worth £90k. During his time at Elland Road, the Swiss defender has made 150 appearances for the club, scoring twice and providing his teammates with seven assists to date.
A central-defender by trade, the 31-year-old has been in the starting eleven for 30% of the club’s Championship fixtures so far this season, playing 29% of their total minutes in the second tier.
Cross believes that the writing is on the wall for the ‘popular’ Swiss when he was left out as the club extended a number of contracts last autumn and that at his age and with the club closing in on promotion, we could see Berardi depart at the end of this season when his current deal expires.
Here’s what he said in full, as he labelled Berardi as a short-term prospect for Leeds:
“The writing is already on the wall for the popular Swiss. Berardi was conspicuous by his absence from the raft of contract extensions last autumn. At 31, with promotion possibly looming, his time may be done in West Yorkshire when his deal expires at the end of 19/20.
TIF Tactics – Does Berardi have any chance of earning a new contract at Leeds?
His average performance rating this season under Marcelo Bielsa currently stands at 6.63/10 according to WhoScored.com. Given what we believe to be an underwhelming rating, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the defender released at the end of this current campaign. Berardi has received eight red cards during his time with the Whites and it’s believed he is weak in aerial duels (via WhoScored.com).
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However, the Elland Road cult favourite has impressed in his last two Championship appearances, firstly against Middlesbrough and then more recently during the 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town. He was awarded performance ratings of 7.39/10 and 7.29/10 for those particular games respectively.