Leeds United defeated Middlesbrough 4-3 at the Riverside Stadium on Tuesday night, applying pressure to their promotion rivals.
The Whites, who are already ahead of Ipswich Town in the Championship table, will play again on Friday night before the Tractor Boys return to action.
This implies that with two games remaining, Daniel Farke’s team may put some distance between themselves and Kieran McKenna’s team.
If Ipswich wins both of their remaining games, they will have the opportunity to overtake Leeds; however, if they have a margin to close when they play Hull, then the burden will be on them.
The attention will shift to the summer transfer window and how the Whites might bolster their roster should they ultimately prevail in the quest for automatic promot noion back to the Premier League at the first attempt. Joe Rodon, a Tottenham Hotspur loanee who is now a part of Leeds’ first-choice starting lineup in the Championship, is one possible addition to the team.
The desire of Leeds United to sign Joe Rodon There is now no alternative for the Whites to quickly make the Wales international’s loan from the Premier League team permanent in the summer.
In order to retain the center back, Leeds will therefore need to sit down and negotiate an agreement with Spurs before to the 2024–2025 season. As per an earlier report by Football Insider this month, the Yorkshire-based team would ‘love’ to make his current loan into a permanent move come summertime.
According to the source, Tottenham has determined that they are prepared to make money off of the tall defender they acquired from Swansea because Ange Postecoglou does not currently include him in his future plans.
They appear to have determined that Rodon lacks the necessary skills to contend with Cristian Romero, Radu Dragusin, Micky van de Ven, and Ben Davies for a starting position because they already have these players in their lineup.
According to Football Insider, Tottenham is willing to allow the Wales international to leave for a cost between £10 million and £15 million, though it’s unclear how much Leeds is willing to pay. The 49ers, who acquired the team last year, need to rapidly work out a deal to sign Rodon in order to get revenge on Victor Orta for the grave mistake he made with former loanee Ben White.
After the defender had a spectacular season on loan with the Whites, the previous sports director of Leeds was unable to sign the player permanently in the summer of 2020.
He was signed by Marcelo Bielsa and Orta on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion for the 2019–20 Championship season. The versatile star, who could play center back and midfield at times, drew attention with his outstanding performances.
White was a formidable presence at the center of the Leeds defense, as the above table illustrates. His steady interceptions and tackles, along with his high duel success rate, allowed the squad to maintain a clean sheet virtually every other game on average. Leeds won the 2019–20 Championship because to his exploits, which earned him a spot in the PFA Team of the Year. The club then made a permanent move to sign him.
To his credit, Orta did make a significant attempt to get the move over the line. Three offers for £18.5 million, £22 million, and £25 million were turned down by the Whites for the Brighton young player.
The Spanish manager, however, did not pursue the matter further, and White signed for Arsenal for an incredible £50 million just a year later. This shows Leeds made a grave mistake by losing out on such a valuable asset.
As a backup, they pursued and paid £12 million to sign Freiburg’s Robin Koch. The German defender, whose contract ends this summer, played 77 games for the team before being demoted the previous campaign. Joe Rodon’s play this season for Leeds In the event that Leeds is promoted to the Premier League once more, the 49ers will need to exact revenge for that gaffe by making sure Rodon does not repeat the same error.
Because of his fantastic play in the Championship this year, they need to match Tottenham’s valuation, which is rumored to be as high as £15 million, and sign him permanently this summer in order to strengthen their defense. Last summer, the 49ers supported Farke in the transfer window, bringing in players like Rodon—a loanee from Spurs—to strengthen the defense.
The 26-year-old behemoth has been a powerful force at the defense for Leeds, as the table above illustrates. He has a strong success percentage in duels against opposing attackers both on the deck and in the air. Rodon has been a pillar of the Whites’ defense, helping them to hold the best defensive record in the Championship with 37 goals allowed in 44 league games.
Because of his outstanding defensive play, the Welsh star—whose “warrior” mindset was praised by Farke earlier this season—has been a vital player for the team, so they need to make sure they can sign him long-term.
Rodon is 26 years old and should be entering his prime years of the career, but he still has a lot of time ahead of him to grow and get better. This implies that, should Leeds manage to recruit the massive Spurs player in the upcoming months, he may be a great addition for them both now and down the road.
Thus, the 49ers might get revenge on Orta for his significant White error by making sure they don’t pass up the team’s productive center-back loanee and instead sign Koch, who is a worse option at a lower cost.
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