Rob Lee believes Ben White would have been a fine addition to Leeds United’s squad had they made his loan move permanent in the summer.
The 23-year-old spent the whole of last season on loan at Elland Road and started all 46 league games, earning an impressive 7.09 rating from those performances.
The Whites then made three bids to sign White, but the Seagulls rejected every single one, and Lee believes that Leeds missed out, saying:
“He [White] would have been a very, very good signing. Brighton knew that – that’s why they kept him. No disrespect to Brighton, but I think he’s proven now he can play at a top club. He’s playing in midfield, he’s playing centre-half, he’s playing left-back. I think that’s why Leeds wanted him and I think they need a centre-half.”
TIF Thoughts on White…
Instead of signing White, Leeds signed both Robin Koch and Diego Llorente. Koch is currently out injured and before that had turned in some inconsistent performances, while Llorente has managed to play just 91 minutes in the league for his new side.
By contrast, White has played 19 league games for Brighton and has also played in varying positions, so he has proved that he is versatile and his overall rating of 6.62 is pretty solid and ranks him in tenth place for the Seagulls.
So, we can see why Lee feels that Leeds could do with White, but given that he signed a new long-term contract, it is hard to see him going anywhere for now.
We will watch on with interest to see if anything changes with his situation but with the likes of Liverpool sniffing around, we can’t see him returning to Elland Road.