Leeds United face ‘Risk’ of being outpriced by Premier League clubs in transfer hunt for Joel Piroe – Phil Hay
Leeds United are at “risk” of being unable to match the fees paid by Premier League clubs in their move for Joel Piroe, according to Phil Hay.
Writing on his personal Twitter account (23 August), The Athletic journalist was responding to news from David Ornstein that Sheffield United are set to win the race for Cameron Archer with a medical scheduled for the Leeds target.
And Hay went on to explain that similar happened with Gustavo Hamer, and that there is a risk of the same happening with Swansea’s Piroe after the club made him their prime target for the striker position in the final week of the window.
“This is a good example of how the market is working,” he wrote.
“Leeds like Archer, also Hamer, but couldn’t match fees offered at Premier League level.
“Dare say there’s a risk the same happens with Piroe.”
Worrying
Leeds fans have been told all summer that there is money to spend this summer and the financial situation of the club is strong.
But so far the club have spent £10m on Ethan Ampadu in midfield and signed Sam Byram on a free transfer and loaned in Joe Rodon from Spurs, while selling Rodrigo and Tyler Adams permanently for a combined total of around £30m.
Yet despite a positive net-spend and time running out, the club seemingly can’t compete in the market for the players they want and that is a serious concern for the rest of the season.
We were gazumped in wages for Max Aarons after agreeing a fee, but if we can’t even get to the numbers that clubs want for their players then signing anyone worthwhile will be a struggle and that makes promotion even harder to earn.
Leeds need reinforcements and quickly, and with the window closing in just over a week it needs to happen now. There’s no time to haggle on fees or go for unrealistic targets.
In other Leeds news, Whites are set to complete a midfield signing in the “coming days” according to reports.