View: Sky pundit claim about Leeds in January could become a big worry for Bielsa
Leeds United are unlikely to do anything big in the January transfer window but there is a good chance that they will need to bring in a new striker.
The Daily Mail has reported that Arsenal are set to recall Eddie Nketiah from his loan spell at Elland Road next month due to the fact the England Under-21 international has not started a single Championship fixture for the Yorkshire club.
It is understandable that Arsenal would go down that route. They sent Nketiah on loan to Leeds with the expectation that he would play a lot more than he has.
Although Nketiah has popped up with some match-winning goals from the bench, the overall number of minutes he has played is clearly not enough for the Gunners and there’s a strong chance he will go back to North London in January.
Marcelo Bielsa is then going to be left with one less striker in his squad and will need to find a replacement.
Liverpool forward Rhian Brewster is someone who has reportedly been lined up by Leeds with Football Insider reporting this week that Leeds are set to hold talks about a loan deal for the 19-year-old if Nketiah returns to Arsenal.
If a young loanee leaves, then a young loanee is going to come in to replace him, it would seem.
However Sky Sports pundit Darren Bent has cast doubt on whether or not that would actually be something Leeds
“Bielsa has a set eleven who are flying and doing really well, so you’d have to bide your time,” Bent told Football Insider.
“But look at Nketiah’s situation, Bamford went eight or nine games without getting a goal, Nketiah was coming on all the time, scoring, and yet was still not getting any starts, so that’s probably doing them no favours.
“If Brewster is not going to be guaranteed game time…if you’re at a big club like he is with Liverpool and you go out on loan, the most important thing is to get game time.
“Whether that is at the top-end of the Championship or anywhere in the Championship, if you’re a defender in the bottom-half, it doesn’t matter as you going to be on the back-foot and get to defend.
“But the most important thing about a loan is getting game time, there’s no point going somewhere and not getting minutes.
“And Brewster needs to start getting games.”
Bent is absolutely right about this and that could cause a big issue for Bielsa next month.
Who is going to want to see a good young player on loan to Leeds when the last good young player who was on loan there was recalled because he did not play enough?
Nketiah has deserved more game-time but the decision to stick with Bamford in the starting line-up has been fully justified and Bielsa is not going to change that to appease a Premier League club who wants to develop their young stars.
It could be that Bielsa has to settle for someone worse than Nketiah in January – and that is a worry.
In other Leeds United news, Mateusz Klich has addressed his controversial social media post on Saturday.