The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Tuesday 22nd September)

Good Morning. It's Tuesday 22nd September, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road

James becomes Bielsa's No1 target

If recent media reports are to be believed Leeds have moved on from Rangers forward Ryan Kent, and are focusing their attention on Dan James. The 22yo's camp say that James is desperate to make the switch.

It will be mutually beneficial to both Leeds and Manchester United if they can push this transfer over the line in the coming days.

The former Swansea star is a long term admirer of Bielsa. There will be absolutely no mistake that this ve be Bielsa signing!

It's strange how quickly players fall out of favour at clubs. When he joined Old Trafford, week in, week out all we heard is how James may be their best player. However, by the end of the season James was way down the pecking order.

A fee of just 12m plus add ons has been mentioned by the Sun this morning.

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Chilean International cheaper option then De Paul

Italian news outlet La Nazione are suggesting that Leeds are preparing to bid for Fiorentina's midfielder Erick Pulgar.

The Chilean International midfielder is seen as a replacement for fellow South American De Paul, whose proposed move to Elland Road has never taken off.

Talks between the two clubs suggest that a fee of €15m would seal the deal

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Paranoid Brighton knock back Leeds again

Leeds have had a formal approach for Brighton central defender Haydon Roberts knocked back.. The promising 18yo, who has less than 12 months on his contract is very much seen as being a star for the future.

Unfortunately, it seems the Seagulls are suffering from paranoia as once again they tell Leeds that they don't want to sell any of their top talent to a club they see as direct opposition!

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Stadiums not reopening in October not a great surprise wonder if this latest news will have any effect on transfer values

 

Good morning.

While I'm not entirely sold that we need Dan James, I feel he probably has more potential than Kent if Bielsa can find it. His main problem at the moment is the end product, his final passes or crosses often find no one. The whole Leeds team had that problem last year.

I would still prefer De Paul over the others we have been linked with but i'll trust Bielsa on this one. If we do get a cheaper option (who will also be on lower wages) I hope we se that money invested elsewhere.

 

I liked James but I don't think we need wanither winger.

Morning all

 

If we get James along with De Paul or Pulgar and a backup CB I'd be happy with that. If we do get James it'd be good to get him over the line before the City game so he can play on the left as Harrison won't be able to play.

 

Good shout this because it could also mean the end for the National League who were due to start this season Oct 2nd, but may not start at all now. This is a joke and will deffo kill off many EFL clubs too.

Pozzo has reduced the De Paul fee so if Leeds want him they need to act now. There are other irons in the fire like Pulgar but no offer has been made yet but Ruslan Malnovskyi’s club Atalanta have received a bid from Leeds And this link is getting more traction, but who knows whats going on really

 

Spending money wisely and only buying quality is great, but also moving a bit faster may also help with only 12 days of the window remaining. We know how long Bielsa takes to get new players up to speed so think we need to inject some urgency now. Dan James is ok but not going to be a worldy especially as we have Poveda who can do damage out wide and we have young Summerville now too. The biggest most important buy is to have Pablos replacement without that we will struggle all season due to misplaced passes in the middle stopping our attacks and putting us into defensive mode.

 

Im easy either way on James, but think we have a bigger need for a 10 type player. De Paul can play centre mid or 10 so covers Pablo and klich roles.

you get the impression de Paul is/was first choice but the plan b options are all cheaper and leave more cash available elsewhere.

it’s all talk ‘til it happens

 

Don't want James. He's not good enough for where we want to go. We've enough wingers.

We need a playmaker and a left back fairly urgently.

Wouldn't mind an experienced keeper and a centre half.

We'll be ok as we are tbh. Just don't think we will fulfill our potential if we don't fill the gaps.

 

I've my reservations Bucks regarding young James. It wasn't his fault that his move to us fell through. But if he's not playing well enough for scum, why do we think he'll be a benefit to us.

 

Costa can play on the left and we have wingers so it's just journo stuff.

 

Morning all

I'd prefer James over Kent, I'd prefer De Paul over James, I too would like to see a dedicated LB but I can't see it happening

 

Morning all,

I'm on the fence regarding James. If we get him then brilliant because there is a good player who Bielsa likes and already must know how he is going to improve him.
If we don't then it's not the end of the world as we already have good players in the position and reasonable cover.

I think Forshaws fitness is going to be a big factor this season.
If he can stay fit and shows the same form he was at the beginning of last season I can see him playing in the middle with Phillips. This will push Klich up into the Pablo position.
I think this will shore us up as I think this will provide more cohesion between midfield and defence.

 

Dont need James, Harrison cannot play against Citeh, so Costa on the left, Poveda on the right. There are a couple of positions we do need to sort out though, and do it pretty quick, we need a good solid LB, Dallas was exposed on Saturday, a playmaker in midfield due to Philipps being drawn out of his holding position (Philips got the runaround against Fulham, and Hernandez is not the answer) Cooper got done by Mitrovic too easily, probably need to strengthen there as well.

 

When we were chasing Dan James I was chuffed. When Swansea pulled the rug I was fuming. When James started for Man Utd like a train on fire I thought the fee we offered Swansea was a bargain. However he has had months of failure, not sure if its a confidence thing but he needs sorting out. Does Bielsa think theres more to come from him, if so fine, but if this is Orta trying to revisit old wounds?

 

We're being pretty heavily linked with Diego Llorente right now, another Spanish international from Real Sociedad. I've already said I wouldn't mind another centre back but I assumed we'd be getting someone like the young Croatian or a solid third choice. If we got him would he keep captain Coops out?

 

I don't care just know we need someone of that standard. Buying Internationals is a great step forward.

 

Spotted this yesterday but now being confirmed by Sky. Agree with you Tommo another International defender is great news

 

Another defender, international as well, would be more important than James.

If we get him in then the form of Koch & Cooper will be very interesting to watch. Whichever one isn't up to mustard will soon see them replaced, captain or not.

 

Morning all,

Bobbing out for a while, but will leave you with a controversial thought - do we really need a #10. Reason I ask is that I can't recall the last game were we used a #10. What spurred this thought was a discussion on telly about spuds Alli. He's a #10, but Mourinho doesn't use a #10 they agreed. They then went on to discuss where he might move to, and during this discussion, there were few opportunities in the UK, because apparently very few PL teams use a #10. I can't verify this as I've not watched enough PL games. But the pundits have! Even when we play Pablo, ask yourself how many times he's actually started in the middle, compared with the wing. Bielsa has favoured him on the wing for some time now.

I shall leave my thoughts with you. I know that some will point to Roberts (allegedly) at #10, but has anyone ever been satisfied with his performance in that berth? Perhaps it's because he's not actually got a #10 brief?