Ali Maxwell and George Elek discussed the latest Championship news during the most recent edition of the Not The Top 20 podcast and spent some time discussing newly crowned Championship winners Leeds United and their ‘key player’ for the 2019/20 campaign, Ben White, during the show.
Swedish centre-back Pontus Jansson was Leeds’ joint-second-highest-rated player during the 2018/19 league season, according to WhoScored. He earned an average overall rating of 7.27/10 from his performances for the Yorkshire club during that campaign. However, the centre-back was sold to Brentford for £5.54m last summer.
When White joined Leeds on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion last summer, it may be fair to say that not many expected him to replace Jansson as effectively as he has. LeedsLive questioned whether he would be ready to play in a promotion-contending Championship side after he arrived at the club, while ex-Whites player Danny Mills shared that he expected the club to sign a new centre-back to replace Jansson after White had already been brought in on loan, as per Football Insider.
However, White was the only centre-back who moved to Leeds last summer, and it may be fair to say that the 22-year-old has filled the void left by Jansson during his time at Elland Road. White has played a higher number of league minutes than any other Whites player this term and he has also earned the fifth-highest average overall rating of any Leeds player during their successful title-winning campaign, according to WhoScored.
Elek was full of praise for White and Leeds’ decision to add him to their squad for the 2019/20 season while reflecting on that decision during the most recent edition of the Not The Top 20 podcast.
After declaring that Leeds ‘strengthened’ last summer, Elek went on to say: “I think Ben White coming in for Pontus Jansson now looks like a bit of a masterstroke and that’s no slight on Jansson, it’s just [that] White was arguably the key player for them in this campaign.”
Has White been an improvement on Jansson?
YES, I THINK SO
NO, I DON'T THINK SO
TIF Thoughts…
Leeds have conceded 12 fewer goals after playing 45 games this season than they had conceded after playing 45 games last season. With that in mind, it may be fair to say that the club have improved defensively this term and considering that White has played more league minutes than any other player for the Yorkshire-based club this season, it may be understandable why Elek has been full of praise for the defender as well as the Whites’ decision to bring him in to replace Jansson last summer.