Craig Scott

Sat 11 January 2020 7:00, UK

Marcelo Bielsa and Victor Orta have been handed a major headache this month as they have been forced into dipping their toes into the transfer market so they can replace Eddie Nketiah at Leeds United.

Arsenal’s decision to terminate Nketiah’s loan at Elland Road means that Patrick Bamford has been left as the only out-and-out striker Bielsa’s senior squad.

Leeds have been linked with a number of strikers to replace Nketiah with Che Adams, Billy Sharp and David McGoldrick some of the most recent names to crop up while the Whites have also seen another target in Rhian Brewster go the way of Swansea.

One huge issue that is going to hinder Leeds’ efforts to sign a replacement for Nketiah is that the England Under-21 international only managed two starts in the first half of the Championship season.

Bamford is the undisputed first-choice striker for Bielsa and anyone who is signed to replace Nketiah is going to play second-fiddle to the former Chelsea striker.

And that is a massive problem at this stage of the season because who is going to want to send their young player to develop at a club where he is not going to get game-time? And what established player is going to want to join a club where he is not going to be starting each week?

Arsenal have left Leeds with a conundrum and annoyingly, it could be a conundrum that has been created for no good reason at all.

Mikel Arteta has now admitted that Nketiah could spend the rest of the season at the Emirates.

What?

Leeds United are in a frantic hunt for a striker to replace Nketiah, who Leeds lost becaue he was not getting enough game-time.

And now it seems as though he is going to get even less game-time in the second half of the season than he did in his loan stint at Elland Road.

Arteta is pleased with the improvement that Nketiah has shown since returning to North London but says a second loan move is not entirely on the cards.

“I sat down with him and was very impressed with him. It was a great challenge for him to work in that environment in Leeds. He’s become a much better player, a much more competitive player,” said the Gunners boss, as quoted by LeedsLive.

“Then the decision to make now is whether it’s better to send him out for another five months to realise his potential and have him ready for next season, or keep him here. It’s something we have to discuss in the next few days.”

If Nketiah is not sent back on loan to get the minutes that Arsenal craved he got then that is a huge kick in the teeth for Leeds.

Bielsa and Orta will be lucky to replace the young striker with someone as good as him and it is going to take time for the manager’s tactics to get across to any replacement.

Let’s hope this is all trivial come the end of the season when the Whites will have hopefully won promotion.

But right now, Arteta’s comments are infuriating.

In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay says that the Whites are on the verge of signing a new player before the end of the weekend.