Ian Harte slams Junior Firpo and Dan James amid prediction for Leeds United summer sales
Ian Harte does not rate Leeds United pair Junior Firpo and Daniel James and says the club will have to sell “at least” two or three players in the summer.
Both Firpo and James arrived prior to the season for a combined fee of just under £40million, with the bulk of that going to Manchester United for the Welsh attacker.
However neither have been unqualified successes, with the former Barcelona full-back especially struggling and now suffering with injury, while James has only shown flashes of quality.
Harte told Free Bets the full-back isn’t better than who he replaced, saying: “These players come from Barcelona and Real Madrid, but they’ve never actually played for the clubs.
“I just think they should have kept [Ezgjan] Alioski, he was brilliant, and all the players loved him.
“They’re going to have to sell at least 2 to 3 to make new moves happen. “
On James he added: “Let’s be honest, if he didn’t have the pace, he wouldn’t play in the Premier League.
“He doesn’t have the knowledge or the know-how. It’s just head down and run… he’s done ok, he’s got raw pace but I’m not a massive fan.”
Flops
It’s fair to say that last summer’s transfer business was not a roaring success.
That could have been hidden by a better season overall, but with the Marcelo Bielsa era imploding so spectacularly it put the signings in the spotlight.
Injuries to the likes of Patrick Bamford and Liam Cooper put pressure on the new pair to perform, but when called upon they couldn’t respond in the way that was hoped.
After staring relegation in the face, two dramatic wins have pulled the Whites seven points clear of the drop zone.
As long as survival can be secured it will give Victor Orta another chance to operate on a Premier League level in the transfer market.
He failed to get Brenden Aaronson in January, and the American is expected to be his first port of call again.
But whoever comes in will need to perform better than last year’s two main signings if this squad is to significantly improve.
In other Leeds United news, David Anderson has shared Leeds’ asking price for Raphinha and whether he is likely to leave.