2020-21 Transfer Rumours and Squad Discussions

[Polkadot]

Harrison around 8m and Meslier around 5m have been widely reported. Both are no brainers! 2 more year with Bielsa they will be worth 4-6 x that money.

[johnnysmiles]

Sadly, Ben White hardly will stay with Leeds. Brighton plans to offer him to Liverpool by 40 millions. I think the club should to make a big effort for Harrison, an authentic pillar on the left wing.

BW has been fantastic... what a pity the deal was not loan to buy....

However, how much of BW's emergence is down to Bielsa and how much to the player himself?

What I mean is that there is an argument for a wiser spending of 40M....

Bielsa turned someone worth very little into a 40M player... so perhaps we're better off paying 20M for another centre half and thereby having the remaining 20m to spend elsewhere....

Beyond the obvious (getting us promoted / fantastic football etc.), perhaps the best qualities Bielsa brings to a football club is a) his eye for talent b) adding value to a football player... so let's not worry about BW leaving (there are also rumours of Liverpool signing him and loaning him back to Leeds)... after all, some of us felt the same about Pontus leaving last year...

[corkleedsmot]

Potter on White

"We see
@ben6white

as part of our plan.

"Everyone won, he got great experience and
@LUFC

got their goal of promotion.

"We rate Ben highly, I've followed his career closely, we like him a lot.

"We'll see him in pre-season and he will be part of our group."

Something tells me this will run til the start of the season.

[rigger]

I wouldn't say Bielsa has an eye for talent so much as a nose for a grafter, someone willing to go the extra mile to prove themselves.

If you look at some of the players he deemed surplus to requirements when he initially assessed the squad, I think you would agree that Sacko, Mowatt, Anita and - much later - Jansson are all very good players, technically.
If you'd told me Dallas, Cooper and Phillips would be absolutely instrumental to our success around that time I would've laughed.

He seems something in the human being that sets both the player and the coach apart : some kindred trait or spirit between them that lets him know that together they can improve both themselves and the club.

He's as much a psychologist as he is tactician.

... okay, maybe nowhere near as much, so let's say 10% philosopher, 20% psychologist and 70% tactician

[lufctrav]

Sadly, Ben White hardly will stay with Leeds. Brighton plans to offer him to Liverpool by 40 millions. I think the club should to make a big effort for Harrison, an authentic pillar on the left wing.

I believe there's an £8M purchase option at the end of his loan. I'd be surprised if it wasn't finalised.

No way - I don't believe that. Why would they ?
Where did you hear that, mate ?

I thought that the £8M purchase option for Harrison was common knowledge.

Sorry, my bad - I thought it was referring to White.

Harrison is a no brainer - he's improved immensely across the two seasons.

My bad, i probably should've specified that i was referring to Harrison.

[lufctrav]

Sadly, Ben White hardly will stay with Leeds. Brighton plans to offer him to Liverpool by 40 millions. I think the club should to make a big effort for Harrison, an authentic pillar on the left wing.

BW has been fantastic... what a pity the deal was not loan to buy....

However, how much of BW's emergence is down to Bielsa and how much to the player himself?

What I mean is that there is an argument for a wiser spending of 40M....

Bielsa turned someone worth very little into a 40M player... so perhaps we're better off paying 20M for another centre half and thereby having the remaining 20m to spend elsewhere....

Beyond the obvious (getting us promoted / fantastic football etc.), perhaps the best qualities Bielsa brings to a football club is a) his eye for talent b) adding value to a football player... so let's not worry about BW leaving (there are also rumours of Liverpool signing him and loaning him back to Leeds)... after all, some of us felt the same about Pontus leaving last year...

Victor Orta was the one who spotted Ben White while he was at Newport 2 seasons ago.

[rigger]

I think Orta's done alright.
It's not a role we're too familiar with on these shores and given the pittance he paid for some of the younger players, even the ones who didn't work out have cost us very much. Regarding some of the bigger and better purchases, I think he should be lauded.
Plus, the "loan with a view to buy" method is pretty risk-free in relative terms. Lasogga and Big Kev could've been brilliant buys because they're both gifted technically - it's just their attitude that wasn't up to Bielsa's standards. It's far better to find that out now than a few months into a permanent contract.

There's an article on Leeds-Live with a detailed look into his dealings, but to save time here's a list of the hits :
Klich
Jansson
Alioski
Saiz
Forshaw
Roberts
Davis
Bamford

A couple of those have been sold on for a profit, obviously.
There are a few more regarded as hits but personally I think they still have a lot to prove (Bogusz, Poveda, Struijk as examples) and a fair few that are misses, though like I said above none really cost a lot of money apart from Kiko and I don't think you can blame Orta for how that turned out.
Incidentally, Douglas was listed as a "Miss" but I would be happy if he got back into the team. Injuries have been his main issue so you could say that's hardly Orta's fault either.

[HalifaxWhite]

Beckford said on sky sports he is available on a free transfer so if Bielsa comes calling he will a answer . Personally in all honesty I would take him on a free maybe not to play other than cup games but to teach PB the art of finishing. PB is the much better all round player of the two without a doubt but JB was clinical.

[johnh]

I wouldn't say Bielsa has an eye for talent so much as a nose for a grafter, someone willing to go the extra mile to prove themselves.

If you look at some of the players he deemed surplus to requirements when he initially assessed the squad, I think you would agree that Sacko, Mowatt, Anita and - much later - Jansson are all very good players, technically.
If you'd told me Dallas, Cooper and Phillips would be absolutely instrumental to our success around that time I would've laughed.

He seems something in the human being that sets both the player and the coach apart : some kindred trait or spirit between them that lets him know that together they can improve both themselves and the club.

He's as much a psychologist as he is tactician.

... okay, maybe nowhere near as much, so let's say 10% philosopher, 20% psychologist and 70% tactician

I strongly disagree with this. I reckon it's: Philosopher 10% Psychologist 19.5% Tactician 70.5%.

[lufctrav]

Victor Orta signings taken from transfermarkt.com

2019/20
Ian Poveda Man City Free transfer ✔ early days
Ben White Brighton U23 Loan ✔
Eddie Nketiah Arsenal Loan ✔
Illan Meslier FC Lorient Loan ✔
Hélder Costa Wolves Loan ✔ early days
Jack Clarke Spurs Loan ➖ part of transfer agreement
Elia Caprile Chievo Verona ? ➖ ongoing
Jean-Kévin Augustin RB Leipzig Loan ➖ injury affected
Liam McCarron Carlisle United ? ➖ ongoing

2018/19
Patrick Bamford Middlesbrough €7.90m ✔
Barry Douglas Wolves €3.40m ➖ ongoing/injury affected
Mateusz Bogusz Ruch Chorzow €100k ✔
Kiko Casilla Real Madrid Free transfer ➖ mixed feelings
Izzy Brown Chelsea U23 Loan ❌ injury affected
Jack Harrison Man City Loan ✔
Jamal Blackman Chelsea Loan ➖ injury affected back up
Leif Davis Morecambe FC ? ✔
Lewis Baker Chelsea Loan ❌

2017/18
Adam Forshaw Middlesbrough €5.10m ✔
Samu Sáiz SD Huesca €3.50m ✔
Tyler Roberts West Brom U23 €2.85m ✔
Ezgjan Alioski FC Lugano €2.50m ✔
Mateusz Klich Twente FC €1.70m ✔
Hadi Sacko Sporting B €1.70m ❌
Laurens De Bock Club Brugge €1.70m ❌
Jay-Roy Grot NEC Nijmegen €1.60m ➖ ongoing
Pawel Cibicki Malmö FF €1.60m ❌
Caleb Ekuban Chievo Verona €560k ➖ sold for double
Yosuke Ideguchi Gamba Osaka €560k ❌
Aapo Halme HJK Helsinki €560k ❌
Felix Wiedwald Werder Bremen €500k ❌
Andy Lonergan Wolves Free transfer ❌
Madger Gomes Liverpool U23 Free transfer ❌
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson Man Utd Loan ❌
Vurnon Anita Newcastle Free transfer ❌
Sam Dalby Leyton Orient Free transfer ➖ sold for a fee
Ouasim Bouy Juventus Free transfer ❌
Jordan Stevens Forest Green ? ✔
Pierre-Michel Lasogga Hamburger SV Loan ❌
Matthew Pennington Everton Loan ❌

VO's first season was a mixed bag but the next two were actually really good. 100% success recruitment is unlikely but he's gone close enough to play his part in getting Leeds promoted, especially if we include the signing of Bielsa.