2022 - 2023 Transfer Rumours and Squad Discussions

[Polkadot]

Marc Roca has played 15 games in 2 seasons.

15 League games, if we include all tournaments it's 26.

Prior to that he was in a team that got relegated in La Liga.

Andy Robertson got relegated with Hull in 2017. He went to Liverpool and has been one of the best left back in the world ever since.

This could well be a signing similar to Junior Firpo.

Every signing can be similar to Firpo. Every signing can be a complete waste of money. There are no guarantees in football. Look at ManUtd for example, they even made a quality talent like Sancho look like a flop in his first season.

The thing that worries me the most is, is this a signing that's a direct replacement for Phillips?

This could be worrying yes. But Kalvins future lies first and foremost in his hands, so if he is to leave this summer it's great to have a replacement ready. Most importantly, there is nothing that says Roca is not suited to play alongside Kalvin. Roca played mostly as one of 2 central in Espanyol and when he has played for Bayern it's also often as one of two central midfielders. Roca is left footed, Kalvin is right footed. They might fit perfect together.

Only time will tell.

This is one of the beauties of following sport

I still can't understand why we don't go and get Lewis O'Brien. A midfielder (number 8) is the top priority for me

I think the plan is to play two deep-lying midfielders (thus Kalvin and Roca) behind Aaronson. So there is no real need for a classic number 8. In those games where that is needed Aaronson can play as a number 8, Greenwood can probably do it given how he played vs Brentford and Dallas can do it when he comes back. For depth purposes and for giving more variated options I also think O'Brien would be a good signing, but I think there are other issues more important if Roca comes in.

[SiMamu]

I think we were always on the lookout for an additional CM, so if Phillips leaves we'll see another CM come in (Tyler Adams, perhaps).

[mshnd06]

Austrian Bundesliga is top heavy but Salzburg have played a number of UCL matches in recent years and the club and these two players haven't looked out of place against much better sides than ours. Aaronson is one of my favorite players and I would be shocked if he doesn't acclimate quickly and perform above expectations. He's a fit for the league and a fit for the system. For what's little it's worth, I'm among a not-insignificant contingent of US supporters that believe that Aaronson has overtaken Pulisic.

Seb Carole has a kid in the academy?! How did I get so old? I remember enjoying watching him.

An earlier rumor mentioned Alberth Elis. Big no from somebody who has seen a ton of him. Absurdly fast, clearly talented, drifts in and out of games, poor effort, poor production. Hasn't lived up to potential and been a consistent difference maker for Honduras or in the MLS. Definitely not going to make it in the PL.

Taty Castellanos is the best all-around player in the MLS. As he's in the MLS, he's obviously not a finished product or a perfect player, but he'd be a great fit for us and a fan favorite. Best defensive forward I've seen in MLS. A menace with his movement. Combines intelligently with his teammates. Gets into good spots. Had trouble finishing early but has improved greatly in that area in the last year and a half. Apart from Alphonso Davies, he's the best prospect the league has produced. He's one year older than Jack Harrison was when he joined us but is a considerably better and more impactful player than Harrison was on the same team and system. Thiago Almada - supposedly Messi's heir and a darling of this board two years ago - has had a mere fraction of Castellanos' impact. I think Taty could potentially be a steal

[Davycc]

Austrian Bundesliga is top heavy but Salzburg have played a number of UCL matches in recent years and the club and these two players haven't looked out of place against much better sides than ours. Aaronson is one of my favorite players and I would be shocked if he doesn't acclimate quickly and perform above expectations. He's a fit for the league and a fit for the system. For what's little it's worth, I'm among a not-insignificant contingent of US supporters that believe that Aaronson has overtaken Pulisic.

Seb Carole has a kid in the academy?! How did I get so old? I remember enjoying watching him.

An earlier rumor mentioned Alberth Elis. Big no from somebody who has seen a ton of him. Absurdly fast, clearly talented, drifts in and out of games, poor effort, poor production. Hasn't lived up to potential and been a consistent difference maker for Honduras or in the MLS. Definitely not going to make it in the PL.

Taty Castellanos is the best all-around player in the MLS. As he's in the MLS, he's obviously not a finished product or a perfect player, but he'd be a great fit for us and a fan favorite. Best defensive forward I've seen in MLS. A menace with his movement. Combines intelligently with his teammates. Gets into good spots. Had trouble finishing early but has improved greatly in that area in the last year and a half. Apart from Alphonso Davies, he's the best prospect the league has produced. He's one year older than Jack Harrison was when he joined us but is a considerably better and more impactful player than Harrison was on the same team and system. Thiago Almada - supposedly Messi's heir and a darling of this board two years ago - has had a mere fraction of Castellanos' impact. I think Taty could potentially be a steal

Some great insight there.

[CanuckMightyWhite]

Austrian Bundesliga is top heavy but Salzburg have played a number of UCL matches in recent years and the club and these two players haven't looked out of place against much better sides than ours. Aaronson is one of my favorite players and I would be shocked if he doesn't acclimate quickly and perform above expectations. He's a fit for the league and a fit for the system. For what's little it's worth, I'm among a not-insignificant contingent of US supporters that believe that Aaronson has overtaken Pulisic.

Seb Carole has a kid in the academy?! How did I get so old? I remember enjoying watching him.

An earlier rumor mentioned Alberth Elis. Big no from somebody who has seen a ton of him. Absurdly fast, clearly talented, drifts in and out of games, poor effort, poor production. Hasn't lived up to potential and been a consistent difference maker for Honduras or in the MLS. Definitely not going to make it in the PL.

Taty Castellanos is the best all-around player in the MLS. As he's in the MLS, he's obviously not a finished product or a perfect player, but he'd be a great fit for us and a fan favorite. Best defensive forward I've seen in MLS. A menace with his movement. Combines intelligently with his teammates. Gets into good spots. Had trouble finishing early but has improved greatly in that area in the last year and a half. Apart from Alphonso Davies, he's the best prospect the league has produced. He's one year older than Jack Harrison was when he joined us but is a considerably better and more impactful player than Harrison was on the same team and system. Thiago Almada - supposedly Messi's heir and a darling of this board two years ago - has had a mere fraction of Castellanos' impact. I think Taty could potentially be a steal

Great read. I think we have landed a huge talent in Aaronson and Rasmus looks like a non nonsense player, who could turn out to be a fan favourite and leader.
I too think the MLS has come leaps and bounds over the last few years, and someone like Taty can be considered a cream of the championship level talent. Someone I would be very excited to add to our front line.

[Leonickroberts]

Austrian Bundesliga is top heavy but Salzburg have played a number of UCL matches in recent years and the club and these two players haven't looked out of place against much better sides than ours. Aaronson is one of my favorite players and I would be shocked if he doesn't acclimate quickly and perform above expectations. He's a fit for the league and a fit for the system. For what's little it's worth, I'm among a not-insignificant contingent of US supporters that believe that Aaronson has overtaken Pulisic.

Seb Carole has a kid in the academy?! How did I get so old? I remember enjoying watching him.

An earlier rumor mentioned Alberth Elis. Big no from somebody who has seen a ton of him. Absurdly fast, clearly talented, drifts in and out of games, poor effort, poor production. Hasn't lived up to potential and been a consistent difference maker for Honduras or in the MLS. Definitely not going to make it in the PL.

Taty Castellanos is the best all-around player in the MLS. As he's in the MLS, he's obviously not a finished product or a perfect player, but he'd be a great fit for us and a fan favorite. Best defensive forward I've seen in MLS. A menace with his movement. Combines intelligently with his teammates. Gets into good spots. Had trouble finishing early but has improved greatly in that area in the last year and a half. Apart from Alphonso Davies, he's the best prospect the league has produced. He's one year older than Jack Harrison was when he joined us but is a considerably better and more impactful player than Harrison was on the same team and system. Thiago Almada - supposedly Messi's heir and a darling of this board two years ago - has had a mere fraction of Castellanos' impact. I think Taty could potentially be a steal

Best post I've read on here in a while, great stuff. I have to say that despite feeling reasonably confident on young European players, I've still got a blind spot on the MLS and USMNT so this sort of assessment is super useful. From what I've read since we were first linked, Castellanos really does sound exciting - and I was a big fan of Almeida, so if you say he's better than him, I'm sold. That being said, Graham Smyth (usually very reliable and not prone to gossip-mongering) has said that he's not a priority target for us, so who knows.

Links to Danny Ings in the BBC gossip this am, which I'm praying are just lazy 'he's-a-striker-and-leeds-need-a-striker' talk...

[Polkadot]

Castellanos would probably be a great addition to Bamford and Joffey.
- He is young and comes from MSL, so he can't be expecting to start all the time.
- He looks to be not particularly injury prone, he hasn't missed two league games in a row since August 2018!
- He is used to play upfront on his own, just like Bamford.
- He already has played 100 games in the MLS, so he is used to senior football.
- 44 goals and 19 assists in 100 games is good numbers for a young player.
- I don't know much about him as a player, but people that knows seems optimistic. That's a good sign.
- He will probably not be that expensive.

If we compare Castellano to Ben Brereton Diaz for example, I would guess Brereton would be much more expensive as he is on "English tax".
Brereton has 39 goals and 17 assists on 170 games in Championship, worse numbers than Castellano in MLS. Castellano is 5 months older, not a big difference.
In the just finished season Brereton scored 22 in 37 games in Championship. Good numbers, but he scored only 2 goals in 13 games in 2022. So there is a big risk with Brereton, perhaps he was just a player that had a good spell last autumn and that's it?

If Castellanos is availible for 12m or so and Brereton for 20m or so, I think I would go for Castellanos.

[Leonickroberts]

Personal terms agreed with Roca and fee talks nearly there according to Fabrizio Romano:


Fabrizio Romano
@FabrizioRomano
Leeds have reached an agreement with Marc Roca on personal terms. Four year deal ready, Bayern want €15m fee but talks between the two club are progressing well. #LUFC

Jesse Marsch wants Roca, work in progress with positive feelings.

[superfox]

Castellanos would probably be a great addition to Bamford and Joffey.
- He is young and comes from MSL, so he can't be expecting to start all the time.
- He looks to be not particularly injury prone, he hasn't missed two league games in a row since August 2018!
- He is used to play upfront on his own, just like Bamford.
- He already has played 100 games in the MLS, so he is used to senior football.
- 44 goals and 19 assists in 100 games is good numbers for a young player.
- I don't know much about him as a player, but people that knows seems optimistic. That's a good sign.
- He will probably not be that expensive.

If we compare Castellano to Ben Brereton Diaz for example, I would guess Brereton would be much more expensive as he is on "English tax".
Brereton has 39 goals and 17 assists on 170 games in Championship, worse numbers than Castellano in MLS. Castellano is 5 months older, not a big difference.
In the just finished season Brereton scored 22 in 37 games in Championship. Good numbers, but he scored only 2 goals in 13 games in 2022. So there is a big risk with Brereton, perhaps he was just a player that had a good spell last autumn and that's it?

If Castellanos is availible for 12m or so and Brereton for 20m or so, I think I would go for Castellanos.

RE: Brereton-Diaz. He had an ankle injury in February, he missed six weeks, before he came back in April. His form after his return could have influenced by fitness issues, also coincided with Blackburn's poor form towards the end of the season, so I wouldn't draw such far-reaching conclusions.

[corkleedsmot]

I like our business so far. I echo mshnd06 on those strikers. Eilis would be awful business (I would vomit) and Taty is def a purchase for a decent price. He has Leeds fan fav written all over him. I just have those vibes about him like Becchio.

I worry where the window goes from here because I will always doubt Orta's judgement and I do feel some of these early signings are manager imput based. I hope Marsch is really vocal in these meetings.

I still think we are shy in the midfield 4 positions and need a striker who can be a complete 9 and play along side Bamford. Hard to find and why Taty might be ideal.
I do think there will be a bit of waiting after this Roca deal though. I think they are looking for a proven striker and Kalvin or Raph leaving will affect a lot of decisions from here on out.

I would look at a young striker who can grow into our 9 after Bamford. Sesko or Delap etc. Maybe neither are ready to be 15-20 goal strikers but clearly will be top players and this is the only stage of their careers we will get these players imo and we should target this sweet spot rather than spend 30-40 on a Rodrigo etc
I really want us buying the best of 18-21 year olds who are clearly ready for the elite level already.