Phil Hay has been giving his verdict on Leeds United’s search for a new central midfielder this summer as he spoke on the latest episode of The Phil Hay Show.
Leeds have been linked with several midfielders this summer, with one of their targets being Conor Gallagher but after Marcelo Bielsa missed out on his man, who chose to join Crystal Palace and Patrick Vieira instead, the focus has shifted to Lewis O’Brien.
Have you been happy with Leeds' transfer business so far this summer?
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It had been reported that Leeds had been quoted £10 million by Huddersfield Town for O’Brien, but with no movement happening on that front, it appears that it may well be another transfer window where sufficient backup does not arrive.
Hay gave his thoughts on Leeds’ hunt for a central midfielder.
“It does concern me as well, the idea that another centre-midfielder won’t come in, because I do think that they need a bit more depth in that position.
“The club have made that admission themselves by the fact that they tried to get Conor Gallagher, and they have looked very closely at Lewis O’Brien at Huddersfield.”
TIF Thoughts on Leeds’ midfielder search…
Given Leeds’ record without Kalvin Phillips last season, nothing appeared to have changed as they were demolished by Manchester United last weekend without their England international in the middle of the park.
It appears that Leeds may be wanting to hold back on their spending this summer after splashing £95 million 12 months ago because bringing in a midfielder for as little as £10 million would not seem to go along with their previous activity in the transfer market.
Considering the links with midfielders that appear to set to fall flat as the transfer deadline nears, a logical conclusion would be that Leeds could be missing out on targets having identified a problem area in the squad, rather than having decided against what could be a gamble to bring in an inexperienced midfielder at the top level, with regards to the likes of O’Brien.