Phil Hay has been speaking on the latest edition of The Athletic’s The Phil Hay Show, and he has been talking about all things Leeds United.
One of the topics that Hay spent a little bit of time on was the January transfer window, and he revealed that the club want to try and avoid doing business in January.
It seems as if the Whites would rather do their business in the summer because, in January, Victor Orta doesn’t feel that there is good value in the market and any player who comes in has to be ready to play for Marcelo Bielsa.
He said: “January isn’t a market where Leeds want to be particularly active going forward, it hasn’t been a market where they have wanted to be hugely active since [Andrea] Radrizzani took over.
“[Victor] Orta doesn’t think it’s a time of year where you get good value.
“The added problem is trying to find anybody who is going to come in and be Bielsa-ready in a way that gives them a good chance of making a serious impact in the second half of the season and your prime exhibit there is Jean-Kevin Augustin and what happened with him.
“I think the mood at Leeds is that if they can avoid going for gold in January, then it’s so much better to get their business done before the season starts.”
TIF Thoughts on Phil Hay’s news on Leeds United…
Do you agree with this policy?
Yes, it makes sense
No, we should use the January window
Hay mentions Jean-Kevin Augustin as an example of a player who Leeds signed in the January transfer window and didn’t work out.
The Frenchman managed just three league appearances totalling 48 minutes on the pitch and, after working hard during the lockdown, suffered an injury that meant he never played for the Whites again, and he has now joined Nantes in Ligue 1.
So, you can see why the Whites would want to avoid another potential Augustin situation, and for that reason, we understand why they prefer to do their transfer business in the summer rather than January.