Leeds United slammed over ‘dreadful’ transfer news by BBC journalist as Adam Pope moots ‘no way back’ for Max Wober and co.
BBC pair Adam Pope and Jonny Buchan have slammed the Leeds United transfer developments that have seen six senior players leave on loan.
Max Wober’s departure for Borussia Monchengladbach suddenly materialising after Daniel Farke said the Austrian defender was left out of the friendly with Monaco due to a “transfer situation” on Saturday [Phil Hay, 22 July] is set to be the biggest blow of the window yet.
The 25-year-old will join, Brenden Aaronson (Union Berlin), Marc Roca (Real Betis), Robin Koch (Eintracht Frankfurt), Diego Llorente and Rasmus Kristensen (both Roma) as first-team players to depart for little or no financial return, and Pope believes none have a viable route back next summer if the Whites are promoted.
Speaking on Don’t Go To Bed Just Yet for the BBC on Monday (24 July, 8m 30s) Buchan said: “It’s seemingly terrible business isn’t it? To pay this money for these players, and even if all that money hasn’t been paid up front you’ve still got to pay it, but then to give them all clauses in their contracts that allows them to go out on loan, Wober being the latest… that is dreadful business isn’t it?”
Pope replied simply: “Yes. No two ways about it.”
He went on: “Wober feels like a real kick in the proverbials… There’s no way back. Is there any way back for any of them if they have good seasons anyway? And what value is there at the end of it?”
Buchan agreed: “There’s no way back for any of these players now. If Leeds get promoted back into the Premier League, who’s going to want to Aaronson and Wober and Llorente all coming back from their loans because they want another shot at the Premier League?”
Blow
The first five names were not ones that most of the fanbase were especially desperate to see in a Leeds United shirt next season but the lack of proper transfer fees was a disappointment.
However, the Wober development over the weekend has provided the double-whammy of genuinely weakening Daniel Farke’s squad and showing that nearly anyone could follow at short notice right up until deadline day.
Guarding against financial disaster in the event of relegation was necessary, but it is hard to escape the conclusion now that the club has sold itself short with the extensive loan clauses, when most players were thought to have significant wage drops written in already.
It will go down as another disappointing footnote attached to the end of the Andrea Radrizzani-Victor Orta era, and dependent on who else goes or stays has the potential to continue affecting the club long after both have officially gone.
Farke needs men in now, and while that is expected there is little time left before the new season starts, and the latest exit will have hampered his plans when it was thought Wober would stay [Leeds Live, 6 July].
At best these players will be sold in a year’s time and the fees that were envisaged this summer might arrive 12-months hence, as it is hard to imagine any slotting back in after flattering to deceive in the top flight last term.
Wober is the only one that performed well enough to make such an awkward situation worth it, so his exit is a major disappointment.
It will only be possible to assess the window as a whole once deadline day passes and the further ins and outs between then and now are counted, but the latest development is certainly not a pleasing one at Elland Road.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites need an eight-figure fee to sign a proven Championship goalscorer they have already made an approach for.