‘Top talent’ – Barca scout delivers breathless report on player who has chosen to be Leeds
Man City winger Ian Poveda had choices this January.
According to Phil Hay at the Athletic, he was wanted by Hoffenheim, Torino and Brentford, as well as Leeds United.
He chose to move to Elland Road to play with Marcelo Bielsa, with his transfer finally confirmed on Friday, and we said at the time that bagging him on a free could turn out to be one of the deals of the decade – if he lives up to his potential.
Leeds fans haven’t seen a lot of him in action but there’s one man who has.
Miguel Rios is the Head of Football Intelligence at OptaPro and works as a scout for Wolves, Fulham, Brentford, Arsenal and Barcelona.
He tweeted, “Of all the young players I have seen Ian Poveda’s technical level has been right up there. A top talent who will hopefully get to where he deserves to be.”
We’re even more excited now.
So why did Man City let him go? Well, he was unsettled there after being dropped from first-team training and he’s out of contract in the summer.
It’s not easy getting in the Man City senior set-up – ask Jadon Sancho who had to move abroad (for just £7m!) to finally get a chance to showcase his skills. Man City will be regretting that one.
To safeguard against future embarrassment with Poveda, Man City have included a 30% future sell-on clause and have the option to match any offer made by another team for the player.
He could also cost up to £1m if he hits various targets at Leeds.
Say what you want about Andrea Radrizzani and Victor Orta, but this looks like a brilliant bit of business and Poveda really could be a future star in the Premier League.
In other Leeds United news, Leeds journalist shares what he’s been told about potential Bowen move