Phil Hay, Michael Normanton and Dan Moylan discussed all of the latest Leeds United transfer news on the most recent edition of The Phil Hay Show from The Athletic, during which, Hay spoke about the Whites’ interest in Brentford playmaker Said Benrahma.
While Leeds won the Championship last season, you could possibly argue that Benrahma was the best player in England’s second tier last term, with the 25-year-old playmaker scoring 17 goals and providing eight assists in the regular season, helping him to earn the highest overall WhoScored rating (7.51/10) of any player to have started at least one game in the Championship during the 2019/20 campaign.
With that in mind, it may be no surprise that the Whites have been linked with a move for Benrahma of late and despite the Premier League’s international transfer window closing this past Monday, they could still potentially do a deal for the Algerian up until next Friday, which is the deadline for the current domestic transfer window.
Here is what Hay had to say about Leeds’ interest in the player during this recent edition of The Phil Hay Show: “Benrahma was on the list right at the start [of the transfer window] but they seemed to go off him during the summer.
“It was mentioned to me by a couple of people that they hadn’t been overly thrilled with the video of Benrahma on social media of him playing volleyball in his swimming pool at this huge villa.
“I think the question arose of what his temperament was going to be like, how well he’d fit into the dressing room, the sort of thing that clubs do think about.
“You have to say, with Benrahma, it’s not only Leeds who haven’t bothered there, nobody has done anything with him and I still find it hard to imagine that before the end of the domestic window, nobody will, but again, a little bit like [Todd] Cantwell, who’s desperate to get back to the Premier League, they’re a little bit out on a limb at the moment and there doesn’t seem to be an awful lot moving around them.
“We’ll see what happens and see what changes but I think the one thing you won’t see is Leeds spending for the sake of spending, and spending just so that at the end of the window they can say they’ve got a centre-mid in. I think if it can’t be done and they can’t find the sort of player they’re after, then they’d rather just leave it.”
Would you like to see Leeds sign Benrahma?
YES, DEFINITELY
NO, WE DON'T NEED HIM
TIF Thoughts…
Judging by what Hay had to say, it doesn’t seem as though the Whites are particularly fussed about securing the £9.45m-rated Brentford man’s signature at present, despite his impressive performances in the Championship last season.
It will be interesting to see if Leeds’ interest in the 25-year-old does increase over the next week and if they do make a move for him before next Friday’s deadline.
As per Transfermarkt, Benrahma has primarily played on the wings during his career, but he is also capable of playing in central attacking positions, so this versatility may be a trait that the Whites would appreciate in the player, however, they signed Raphinha on Monday who can play in a lot of the same positions as Benrahma, so perhaps Leeds opted to sign the Brazilian instead of the Brentford man, in which case, their pursuit of the 25-year-old is perhaps unlikely to continue.