Speaking recently on the TIFO Football Podcast, The Athletic’s Leeds United correspondent, Phil Hay, discussed the ongoing transfer saga of Brighton & Hove Albion defender, Ben White, as well as SC Freiburg centre-back, Robin Koch.
Since joining Leeds United on loan at the start of last season, White has enjoyed a rather remarkable rise in reputation.
The 22-year-old went on to start every game for Marcelo Bielsa’s side throughout their Championship-winning campaign, chipping in with one goal and two assists along the way, as well as averaging a highly impressive WhoScored match rating of 7.09 – ranking him as the club’s fifth-best performer in the league.
Due to his highly impressive performances, Leeds have appeared desperate to bring the defender back to the club on a permanent basis, making a total of three bids for the £4.95 million-rated man, however, it has recently been reported that Brighton will not sell White to Leeds this summer, and also that Bielsa’s side are now expected to turn their attention to Freiburg centre-back, Koch.
This situation is something that Hay discussed on a recent episode of the TIFO Football Podcast.
He said: “For Leeds, they have, as a starting point, a very obvious hole at centre-back now that Ben White has gone back to Brighton. That is a position that they simply have to fill before they go to Anfield.
“They’ve tried with White, they’ve tried three times, they’ve had three bids knocked back [by] Brighton – that climbed up to a highest bid of £25 million upfront, which would’ve included the usual add ons – appearances, England debut, all that sort of thing.
“The message that’s coming back from Brighton is simply that they don’t want to sell, and because of that, the timeframe is now becoming pretty tight. I’m expecting over this weekend [for] Leeds to look elsewhere and to try and make progress on other fronts, particularly with Robin Koch, the centre-back at Freiburg in Germany.
“He’s somebody that they’ve been scouting for a long time, somebody who they very much rate and who they think has similar attributes to White, and actually would probably come for a cheaper fee as well. So they do have fallbacks.”
Do you think Leeds should bid any more than their last offer of £25 million for White?
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TIF Thoughts…
It would appear from what Hay had to say that Leeds will no longer be pursuing a deal for White and that the club will now turn their attention to Koch.
Since Hay’s comments, it has been suggested that the English defender is set to sign a new deal with Brighton, which would seem to back up the journalist’s take on the situation, with Koch now looking the likelier option in terms of Leeds’ hunt for a centre-back.
While this will undoubtedly come as unwanted news for Leeds fans, it is our opinion that the club must draw a line with their pursuit of White at some point, and with Hay suggesting that the latest bid was for £25 million, it would appear that this is where that line is.