‘From what I’m told’ – Phil Hay delivers Leeds transfer update on Jan move for £14k/wk PL star
Athletic journalist Phil Hay has said that Leeds United “kind of enquired” about Chelsea centre-back Fikayo Tomori in the summer, but poured cold water on the prospect of a move this January.
Leeds have been consistently linked with Tomori – on a reported £14.4k-a-week at Chelsea – in this window, with the BBC saying that Elland Road was his most likely destination.
However, Hay has said there was “never a plan” to bring in a new centre-back this window despite the multiple injuries that Leeds have suffered.
Talking on the latest episode of the Phil Hay Show podcast, Hay said, “Leeds kind of enquired about him in the summer but it was more of a speculative ask about what the situation was, if he was available, all of that.
“They didn’t get into any serious discussions about a deal, Bielsa didn’t really do any serious analysis of him as they were obviously after Ben White to begin with, they had Robin Koch in the background as well.
“Bielsa said after these injuries came up, ‘I’ll make do with what I’ve got.’
“That doesn’t seem to have changed. There was never a plan to get another centre-back in. From what I’m told, at this point, that hasn’t shifted.”
Nothing to see here
Tomori has been the strongest rumour of a senior incoming player this window but it really doesn’t look like anything is going to happen unless something dramatic happens with injuries.
This decision is coming from Marcelo Bielsa and we’ve no doubt that many other managers would look to bring in someone like Tomori with the injuries that Leeds have had.
Leeds have been unfortunate at the back this season, losing all three senior centre-backs to injury.
Diego Llorente is now back in training and could be available for selection against Crawley on Sunday.
If he doesn’t return then, we’d expect him to come back for the Leeds Under-23s game on Monday.
If we’re not signing a new centre-back, keeping him fit over the winter months will be key, with Koch out until the Spring.
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