Connor Roberts: Phil Hay raves about Burnley loanee, always wanted Leeds United
Phil Hay believes that in new Leeds United signing Connor Roberts the club have “done better than cover” their risky right-back spot.
The Athletic journalist told the Square Ball on 5 February that the Deadline Day loanee from Burnley, who has already indicated he would like to stay permanently, had always wanted to play for the Whites and believes his “attitude” and experience in this league could be ideal on and off the pitch.
The 28-year-old was promoted to the Premier League under Vincent Kompany at Turf Moor last term and is now tasked with helping Daniel Farke do the same at Elland Road.
Hay said (10m 10s): “They’ve done better than cover it in Connor Roberts. He’s been a highly-proven Championship right-back for a long time now.
“We went to see him before the signing was announced on Thursday… and it’s hard not to like the cut of his jib. He’s clearly got a bit of an attitude, which is great, he’s quite a spiky guy. He was talking about how much he likes a scrap on the pitch, how much he likes to get stuck in, and he enjoys the needle.
“But you can also hear in what he says the confidence of somebody who knows the drill in the Championship, who’s seen it before. He’s been through the play-offs a couple of times with Swansea, he’s won the title with Burnley. This is absolutely his familiar hunting ground…
“From a technical perspective, as a player, I think it’s a good signing, but I also think there’ll be some real value in having him in the dressing room.”
He added (13m 45s): “Roberts was saying to us, ‘I never grew up as a Leeds fan. I’ve never been a Leeds fan, but I’ve always wanted to play for this club’.”
Burnley loanee Roberts is “highly-proven” Leeds United business
The Whites certainly took their time to plug the gap left by Djed Spence and Luke Ayling leaving but the eventually got a target they had liked from the start of the window.
It will be easier said than done for him to get into the side over Archie Gray at right-back, but the Welsh international’s arrival saves an injury to the teenager spelling disaster at the position.
Jamie Shackleton has proven a solid stand-in but probably wouldn’t be the ideal solution for the business end of a promotion push, whereas Roberts has been there and done that in the past year.
He might also help potential fitness issues on the left where Sam Byram and Junior Firpo have both got highly-chequered injury records so it was better late than never in terms of the January window.
Everything the Burnley man has said since arriving, before even playing a minute, sounds like exactly what Leeds United supporters would want to hear.
So if he can back that talk up on the pitch when called upon, and match the output of his international teammates in Dan James, Ethan Ampadu and Joe Rodon, then it could be the perfect signing midseason.
In other Leeds United news, Adam Pope has shared why the newest Elland Road addition still can’t play in the next game.
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