Mark Smith Fan Q&A: Are Leeds broke after lack of summer signings?
Every week we’ll be asking Leeds United fans on our Facebook account for questions that will be answered by MOT Leeds News editor Mark Smith. You can join in by following the Leeds Insider Facebook account and watching out for weekly mailbag posts. Get involved…
Leeds United have clear issues with their squad which were made even clearer in the 2-1 defeat against West Ham.
Diego Llorente, Pascal Struijk, Robin Koch, Luke Ayling and Patrick Bamford were all out injured for Marcelo Bielsa.
That led to serious problems on the substitute bench with Tyler Roberts and Jack Harrison the only two senior options available.
That has led to fans questioning the summer business, with Pete asking if the club don’t have the financial power to complete numerous moves.
“How broke is the club, that it did not invest in a Premier League squad this summer?”
This isn’t a question of being broke or not.
Victor Orta is obviously in charge of the transfer business, but the final say comes down to Bielsa and who he wants to bring in at Elland Road.
At the start of the season, El Loco must have been happy with his options but that is looking like a mistake at this very moment in time.
Midfield is the clear problem area, but Andrea Radrizzani has made it clear that Adam Forshaw was the so-called “new” signing, but he has since picked up two more injuries and is once again ruled out.
COVID-19 and the lack of matchday revenue will have had a huge say on how much was made available, but the money was clearly there.
If it wasn’t, Leeds wouldn’t have almost broken their transfer record to sign Dan James from Manchester United on deadline day.
After the Jean-Kevin Augustin debacle, which is still ongoing, we believe Leeds are very particular with who they target for Bielsa.
Clearly, there could be more money pumped into the squad, but with Bielsa’s specific needs and the year without revenue, Orta and Radrizzani were clearly playing it safe.
If the start to this season will have proven anything, it is that numerous signings are needed, and hopefully, they will be coming next summer – fingers crossed.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay shares what Bielsa was shouting at Charlie Cresswell after Antonio goal v West Ham