Football writer Conor McGilligan has claimed Leeds United could have pulled off a deal for Takumi Minamino this winter- but fears they’ve now ‘left it too late’.
With the January transfer window speeding to an end, Leeds are still to make a signing. However, the Premier League outfit have recently been linked with making a possible loan move for the Japan international.
Despite this late interest, McGilligan thinks that a move won’t be possible as the player is away on international duty and the right people wouldn’t be able to reach him in person to sort out details.
Should Leeds try and loan Takumi Minamino?
Yes
No
While speaking on the One Leeds Fan Channel on YouTube, he explained his understanding of the situation, saying: “The Minamino one is really interesting. It wouldn’t be dead in the water in terms of Leeds being interested in the player, but they’ve just left it too late if they are interested.
“I mean, it looks like foreign nationals can’t get into Japan at the minute, obviously Minamino is away with Japan for his international duty. So, I mean, it would take a massive… I mean, I don’t know how Leeds would be able to do that.
“We’d have to get a representative to get in there on the last day. It’d be a rush, it’d have to be approved by the government. It just will not happen. It just won’t happen. So yeah, Minamino, that is not going to be happening, for me.”
TIF Thoughts on Takumi Minamino and Leeds United…
With Leeds not bringing any new players into the club this winter, it would certainly make sense for them to have their eye on a few late deals.
Minamino would represent an interesting signing, too. Indeed, the Liverpool man has shown flashes of his quality this season – scoring four times in five Carabao Cup games.
However, he has only been granted 86 minutes of game time in the Premier League up to this point in the campaign (via Transfermarkt), so a loan move could be best for him.
Despite that, with Minamino out in Japan – where he recently helped his nation to a 2-0 win over China – if McGilligan’s hunch is correct, then it does sound as if a deal in the closing hours of the window would be too complex to arrange.
In other news: ‘Summed up the day’ – Journalist rips into ‘shocking’ Leeds United star