January’s transfer window is rapidly approaching for Leeds United and Victor Orta. With the Whites 15th on 15 points from 14 matches, they cannot afford to get the window wrong and face the kind of run-in they saw last season.
Nobody was signed in January 2022, despite the perilous position the club found itself in. They would go on to sack Marcelo Bielsa before surviving, against all the odds, on the final day of the campaign at Brentford.
The signings Orta made during the summer window have proven to be very successful. All of them, Brenden Aaronson, Rasmus Kristensen, Marc Roca, Tyler Adams, Luis Sinisterra and Wilfried Gnonto, have caught the eye for all of the right reasons.
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However, there were blind spots in that window. Stuart Dallas’s injury and Leif Davis’s sale left United with one senior, natural left-back in the building.
Despite Jesse Marsch’s comments in Australia about pursuing a full-back, as well as the failed experiment with Jack Harrison, Leeds decided to go with Junior Firpo and Pascal Struijk, as a makeshift option, in that department.
Forwards like Charles De Ketelaere, Cody Gakpo and Bamba Dieng were wanted at Elland Road, but none of them were secured. They ended the window with 18-year-old Gnonto as their only addition to the frontline.
The club still needs a left-back and a striker going into January. Those problems have not gone away, but Orta and the club have been sent a clear message on which is the priority.
As a part of The Big Leeds United Forum held on LeedsLive, there were hundreds of responses pointing out which vacancy should be at the top of Orta’s shopping list. Nearly 60 per cent of responders said a left-back had to be the most important addition.
That was was nearly double the 30 per cent which voted for a striker. Ten per cent opted for a centre-back.
With Rodrigo scoring goals, Patrick Bamford, Joe Gelhardt, Sam Greenwood and Gnonto in the squad, the majority of fans can clearly see where the club is badly lacking. Struijk is still considered a better centre-back, while Firpo has continued to disappoint in the brief opportunities he has had on the pitch.
Leeds simply need another first-rate left-back in this strongest line-up which can be trusted for the second half of the campaign.
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