Sky Sports pundit stumped by Leeds decision on player he claims was available for £5m in Jan
Leeds United left Sky Sports pundit Jermaine Beckford baffled in the January transfer window after not trying to sign Nakhi Wells from Burnley.
Wells, 29, spent the first half of the season on loan at QPR, scoring 15 goals in 29 appearances across all competitions before Burnley ended up selling him on a permanent deal to Bristol City.
The Bermuda international is a proven goalscorer in England’s second-tier with 66 goals in 214 outings at that level but Leeds did not appear to show much interest in him in January when they searched for a new striker of their own.
Jean-Kevin Augustin ended up arriving at Elland Road on loan from RB Leipzig after Eddie Nketiah returned to Arsenal and the Frenchman is yet to get up to full speed for Leeds, having failed to start a match so far.
Ex-Leeds striker Beckford believes that Wells should have been a no-brainer for his old club as they searched for a replacement for Nketiah, claiming that the new Robins forward was up for grabs on a cut-price deal.
“Talking about forwards. Nahki Wells was available for £5million,” Beckford told talkSPORT, as transcribed by the Bristol Post.
“For me, when he was at QPR for the first half of the season, he scored a lot of goals.
“To know somebody was available, with Championship experience on the back of scoring however many goals he scored was a little bit baffling to myself as to why they didn’t reach out and try to grab him on board.”
It is pretty clear why Leeds did not sign Wells because it seemed like their January strategy was to sign a striker who could make the step up to the Premier League with them if they win promotion this season.
Well is very good in the Championship but he turns 30-years-old in the summer and flopped massively at Burnley, failing to score in any of his nine Premier League appearances.
Augustin, 22, arrived at Leeds on loan with the view to a permanent deal in January instead and he is someone who still has potential and has proven himself in some of Europe’s top leagues already.
While he is not yet ready to start for the Whites, he could end up being a much better investment than Wells would have been.
In other Leeds United news, this blow in January could turn into a blessing in disguise for the Whites.