Phil Hay reacts as Leeds United offered chance to sign Paris Saint-Germain left-back Layvin Kurzawa
Leeds United are unlikely to pursue a deal for Paris Saint-Germain left-back Layvin Kurzawa despite him reportedly being offered to the club, according to The Athletic journalist Phil Hay.
French news outlet Media Foot reported on Tuesday (19 July) that the 29-year-old had been offered to Leeds by his agency CAA.
It is understood that PSG’s director of football Luis Campos wants to get rid of the 13-times France international and his new agents have been trying to find him a new home.
Hay says that Kurzawa, however, is unlikely the kind of left-back that Leeds will be pursuing in light of an injury to Junior Firpo that will see him sidelined until September.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Phil Hay Show podcast (21 July, 17m10s), Hay said: “I personally think they’ll go for someone a bit younger than a full-on, experienced left-back.
“I still think in Marsch’s head, Junior Firpo is his first choice and Firpo is the player he wants to make work.
“I can see you pulling a face but they haven’t abandoned that one at all.”
Don’t be fussy
Firpo had a shocker of a debut season at Leeds.
While his strengths are going forward, he didn’t really do that much to contribute to Leeds’ attack last season and his defensive frailties mean we were constantly conceding goals down that side of the pitch when he played.
Stuart Dallas is Leeds’ best left-back option but he’s going to miss the rest of the year with a fractured femur and is also better off being played as a midfielder or even a right-back.
Left-back has been an issue for Leeds for years so they really need to think hard about who to bring in there if they do decide to splash some more cash.
We don’t think they should pursue Kurzawa but we also don’t think they should be too fussy and end up getting to deadline day without someone being brought in.
Kurzawa will turn 30 in September and despite being on the books at PSG since 2015, he’s only ever made 152 appearances for them in all competitions, which works out at around 21 appearances per season.
Last season, he played once and that one appearance was in August when he played nine minutes of the Trophee des Champions final defeat to Lille.
Foot Mercato reported on 11 July that the ex-Monaco ace earns a staggering £100,000-a-week (€125,000-a-week) on his contract at Parc des Princes.
Why would we want him?
Leeds might look at the loan market and see if they can get a young left-back in that way who they could eventually sign permanently if they like the look of him.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites are ready to sign off on this major new signing but it’s dependent upon one factor.