LEEDS WANT 'OUTSTANDING' £9K-P/W GEM TO FIX BIELSA ERROR

Leeds United are a club that will enter the Championship as one of its biggest. Therefore, their pull will immediately outrank most others seeking to snag promotion, and players offered the choice between Elland Road or elsewhere in the division will almost always opt for the former.

This monopoly over transfer targets is particularly useful at a level like this, where they could realistically use their enhanced funds and stature to bankroll all the competition, at immense risk in case it fails.

As such, they will want to remain careful of their spending, or else face another 16-year absence from the Premier League. That is where Andrea Radrizzani will feel they belong, and given his desperation to sell the club goes on, their presence at that level would surely boost any income he is sure to receive too.

This all feeds into their expected first move of the window, which reported late last month that they were moving in to sign free agent Ryan Manning. The £9k-per-week titan has seen his contract at Swansea City conclude this summer, and the Yorkshire club again have that pull to convince him that they are the best option.

How good is Ryan Manning?

In securing this fine left back, at last they could fix their long-term issue which even Marcelo Bielsa failed to solve.

Whilst the Argentine suffered from numerous failures that led to his eventual sacking, not limited to his stubbornness to alter his philosophy and the injury crisis he suffered, it could be argued that a failure to sign a top left back was his biggest gaffe.

Swooping for Junior Firpo in 2021, it quickly became clear that he would not be at the requisite level for the English game. And yet, he persevered, much to the detriment of his team.

The 26-year-old could only muster a 6.60 average Sofascore rating in that debut term, even forcing centre-back Pascal Struijk to fill in instead of him. They would ship a ridiculous 79 goals that campaign too, with Bielsa's dismissal an inevitability.

In Manning, they would gain an immediate upgrade on the former Barcelona flop, as his 7.46 average Sofascore rating marks him out as one of the best assets in this division.

Offensively gifted but defensively solid, the 26-year-old would give them the boost they need to waltz through the Championship potentially at the first time of asking.

He averaged 2.5 key passes, two tackles and 1.3 interceptions per game last season, to supplement his five goals and mammoth ten assists, via Sofascore. Such form even led his boss Russell Martin to brand him as "outstanding".

With Radrizzani surely seeking an instant return to the Premier League, there are few better signings on the market than this Manning deal, given his imperious domination of the division they are set to enter.

It would also surely spell the end of a longstanding issue that started with Bielsa's stubbornness.

2023-06-06T08:12:41Z dg43tfdfdgfd