Sky Sports pundit: Leeds should sign ‘recognised goalscorer’ in same mould as Charlie Austin
Sky Sports pundit Andy Hinchcliffe has claimed that Leeds United will struggle to sign Che Adams from Southampton this month.
Marcelo Bielsa is in need of a new striker after Arsenal recalled Eddie Nketiah from his loan spell at Elland Road due to a lack of game-time.
Nketiah made just two starts for the Whites in the Championship and that could mean that Bielsa will have a hard time replacing him.
Adams has failed to score a goal since joining Southampton from Birmingham in the summer and Hinchcliffe claims that the Saints won’t allow their goal-shy striker to join Leeds out of fear he will be treated similarly to Nketiah.
Hinchcliffe has instead suggested that Leeds might need to pursue someone who is at a latter stage in their career like West Brom striker Charlie Austin.
“Che Adams has struggled to get games at Southampton so if he was going to go out on loan, the first thing that he and Southampton would want is to start games. And if you go to Leeds, you’re going to be an impact substitute,” said Hinchcliffe on Sky Sports’ EFL Matters podcast [19m 15s].
“Bielsa has set his stall out with Patrick Bamford being in the team for at least 70 minutes of every game and then you maybe make a change and bring on somebody else.
“If you’re going to be an impact sub, you’re probably better off getting somebody who’s 20, 21-years-old or someone like Charlie Austin, who, no disrespect, is slightly at the other end of his career but is a recognised goalscorer.”
Austin has been hit-and-miss at The Hawthorns this season.
The 30-year-old has scored seven goals in 19 Championship appearances but Hinchcliffe has made a great point about him being an impact substitute.
Out of Austin’s seven goals for the Baggies, five of them have come when he has been substituted on by Slaven Bilic.
Hinchcliffe could be onto something here, although Nketiah did prove in his first few months at Elland Road that he is equally as capable of hitting the back of the net when substituted on.
It just might be a bit easier for Bielsa and Victor Orta to sign an older striker in the mould of Austin than a youngster who needs more game-time.
In other Leeds United news, a medical is scheduled for the Whites to sign this player over the weekend.