Phil Hay details ‘elephant in the room’ after update on Ben White future at Leeds
Leeds United may feel as though their chances of signing Ben White permanently are dwindling but the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on football means we cannot be certain of what is going to happen in the transfer market.
White, 22, has been impressive during his loan spell at Leeds and the Brighton centre-back has understandably attracted interest from the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City [The Athletic].
The defender has played so well on loan at Elland Road that Leeds have found it tougher and tougher to be able to hang onto him past the end of this season.
The Athletic journalist Phil Hay spoke in his recent podcast saying that he senses Leeds are resigned to not being able to sign White once his temporary deal expires. Hay also said Leeds “would love to keep” White but that seems unlikely based on top-six Premier League interest.
However Hay has now offered a possible glimmer of hope for Leeds, saying that football’s economy is going to be altered greatly due to COVID-19 bringing the sport to a halt for over a month now.
“The elephant in the room here is the transfer market itself. God knows how it’s going to work or who will have money to spend,” he said via his personal Twitter account.
Leeds do need to win promotion to sign White and as Andrea Radrizzani has said previously about his desire to get more investors involved at Elland Road, the Yorkshire club could be well-placed financially next season.
Brighton might get relegated and that could affect White’s transfer value while other clubs who are currently interested in him might struggle to reach a deal.
Of course, it could go against Leeds but still, there is a faint bit of hope and we’re going to cling onto it because White is such a good player.
In other Leeds United news, Alex Neil has supported a big sanction being made against the Whites.