It doesn’t come as a surprise to see Tyler Roberts reportedly on the verge of leaving Leeds United for pastures new this summer. The Wales international was always going to struggle for game time at Elland Road next season and it seems as though a fresh start away from the club is on the cards.
According to The Athletic, Roberts is close to joining Championship side Birmingham City on a permanent deal. It’s a move that would see Roberts make the move back to the second city, where he spent much of his childhood, and he will be keen to reignite his career after a testing spell with the Whites.
Roberts was deemed to be surplus to requirements at Leeds last summer after failing to effectively prove his worth in the top flight and a loan move to QPR followed. Unfortunately, due to a series of injuries the forward never really managed to find any sort of momentum in west London and that spell ultimately came to an end last month, with Roberts having made just 18 league appearances.
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The switch shows a desire to turn over a new leaf at St Andrew’s as the 24-year-old reaches a pivotal point in his career and it says plenty about Leeds’ current position in the summer window, too. The club have been relatively quiet when it comes to the rebuild following Premier League relegation with plenty still to do before focus can be put wholeheartedly into recruitment.
Appointing a new head coach sits at the top of Leeds’ to do list, while a director of football is yet to be found and 49ers Enterprises’ takeover is still to be finalised. Nevertheless, the arrival of Nick Hammond as an interim football advisor on Thursday was a step forwards and parting ways with Roberts at this point certainly shows the club to be progressing with some transfer direction.
Of course, the deal is yet to be finalised, but if signed off it would provide Leeds with a healthy, albeit small, influx of cash and that might even kick start their plans when it comes to making additions. There’s even so much uncertainty on that front as Leeds brace themselves for an exodus of key, high profile names.
What’s clear, though, is that the necessary decisions are starting to be made. It’s fair to say Roberts might not be the only returning player set to leave the club in such quiet circumstances, without being given another shot at Leeds, either.
Diego Llorente, who spent the second half of the season on loan at Roma, looks likely to be on the move. But, there are still questions to be answered when it comes to the fates of Helder Costa, Ian Poveda, Jamie Shackleton and even Alfie McCalmont.
All four players are due to return to Thorp Arch at the start of July, but it remains to be seen whether they have a future at the club. Poveda and Shackleton spent last season in the Championship, with Blackpool and Millwall respectively, and while both found joy in spells, neither really made their mark.
The same can be said for Costa, who spent the season on loan in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ittihad. The winger was part of the squad that won the Saudi title, but he was in and out of the side and asked to play a number of different positions, without nailing down one.
He did catch the eye for Leeds the last time the club were in the Championship, but a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. McCalmont, on the other hand, was a regular for Carlisle United as the Cumbrians won promotion via the play-offs to League One.
But, after the 23-year-old spent the first half of last season with the club’s under-21s, it’s hard to see him finding his way into the senior fold this time around, even with a new head coach to try and impress. There’s still so much to do and be decided at Thorp Arch, but Roberts’ impending exit looks to be the first step.
