Marcelo Bielsa showed interest in Huddersfield Town’s Lewis O’Brien in the summer, and again in January, but a fee couldn’t be agreed for the Championship star.
And Daily Mirror journalist David Anderson has told GiveMeSport that Leeds were in the driving seat – and could have got their man if they offered just ‘that little bit more’.
“It was a strange one at the time because Leeds could have got him if they had offered that little bit more,” Anderson mentioned.
Bielsa and Leeds have had a fixed transfer strategy and won’t spend on players if they don’t feel they will improve the starting XI, and this strategy certainly continued during this saga.
However, it now looks like it could come back to bite the Whites, as a number of other clubs are now reportedly interested in signing the midfielder.
TIF Thoughts on the O’Brien transfer and Leeds’ reluctance to spend big…
O’Brien is a central midfielder who has played 30 league games this season for Huddersfield, and the midfield area is a position that Bielsa has struggled with this campaign.
So, it was an odd decision not to offer that little bit more in order to gain his services at Elland Road. Especially after Leeds have lacked any quality in that area of the field, with Kalvin Phillips being sidelined to injury.
Mateusz Klich has been utilised in midfield in the absences of Phillips and Adam Forshaw, but he hasn’t cut it this season, with the Polish midfielder reportedly on his final straw as a Leeds player after a string of poor displays.
Leeds have not supplied Bielsa with any noticeable funds and they are starting to pay the price, as Saturday’s 3-0 away thumping against Everton sees them sit just six points above the drop.
Therefore, if Bielsa was supplied with sufficient funds to get players like O’Brien in the door, the issue could have been erased and they see themselves sitting higher in the league table.