Phil Hay: This is why Marcelo Bielsa stopped Leeds United signing Noa Lang
Marcelo Bielsa blocked a move for Leeds United to sign Noa Lang from Club Brugge in the summer due to concerns about his defensive capabilities, according to Phil Hay.
Lang, 22, was strongly linked with a move to Elland Road in the summer transfer window but The Athletic’s Hay reported last month that although Victor Orta wanted to sign the Dutch forward, Bielsa hadn’t give his approval for a deal.
Writing in an update on The Athletic website on Friday, Hay explained why Bielsa stopped Orta from signing Lang.
“Concerns about defensive capabilities were understood to be behind Bielsa’s decision not to pursue Club Bruges’s Noa Lang last month,” said Hay.
“[Daniel] James (finally) arrives at Leeds knowing he will be asked to graft at both ends of the field.”
Fair enough
When we fans look at a player who has been linked with a move to Leeds, it’s easy to look at their nationality, age, goalscoring record, assist record and trophy haul when making a decision on whether we like the look of them or not.
That’s especially the case for young overseas players like Lang, who was in sensational form for Club Brugge last season as they won the Belgian league title.
Dubbed a “phenomenon” by Belgian journalist Peter Vandenbembt [LiveFootballOnTV], Lang scored 17 goals and supplied 11 assists in 38 appearances across all competitions for Brugge last season.
The ex-Ajax ace has also started this campaign well, scoring twice and setting up four goals in seven outings.
From our perspective, Lang is a superb attacking player who guarantees goals and assists while his versatility also ticks a massive box for Bielsa.
However, the defensive output is likely to be something a lot of people ignored – expect Bielsa.
We trust in Bielsa’s decision and in new signing James, Leeds still have a young international winger who’s experienced in the Premier League.
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