da 888casino： Leeds United fans will be fearing the worst regarding their lowly team when you glance at the slog of Premier League fixtures coming the Whites’ way across the rest of November and December.
da prosport bet： Indeed, November ends with two tough contests versus Aston Villa and Manchester City, with Daniel Farke’s men needing to make home advantage count against the Villans, before travelling to the Etihad to take on the Erling Haaland-led Citizens.
December then throws up clashes with Chelsea and Liverpool, with Farke’s precarious position in the Elland Road dug-out no doubt on even shakier foundations if the losses continue, and Leeds slip into the bottom three in the league.
The pain of poor results across these winter months can always be somewhat remedied by the January transfer window opening, as Leeds attempt to turn around their fortunes with a big signing or two…
Where Leeds can bolster their forward line in January
Based on current rumours coming out of West Yorkshire, it’s clear that a new striker addition is a priority.
In recent days, Leeds have been tipped to make some statement moves, with an audacious swoop for Ivan Toney alleged. Moreover, FC Midtjylland centre-forward Franculino has been on their radar as Farke attempts to move away from solely relying on Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha.
On top of talk of Toney and Franculino, Leeds are also chasing after the services of AZ Alkmaar goal machine Troy Parrott, who is very much in the limelight now for his Republic of Ireland heroics.
A report from Dutch outlet Voetbal Neuws, which has been relayed by Sport Witness, states that Leeds have entered discussions to sign the clinical 23-year-old, after being interested in the Dublin-born striker’s signature since the summer.
Now, with a hat-trick under his belt for his nation against Hungary, the ex-Tottenham Hotspur wonderkid is a hot commodity once more, with a bid in the region of £26m expected to be enough to prize him away from the clutches of his Eredivisie employers.
How Parrott can be Leeds' next Rutter
Splashing out such a big amount on an attacker could see Leeds pick up their next iteration of Georginio Rutter, with Rutter eventually going down as a fan’s favourite at Elland Road, after departing Hoffenheim for some lavish bucks.
After a wobbly start mid-way through the 2022/23 season, arriving in a whopping £35.5m deal, Rutter would find his feet under Farke during the following season.
In total, the attacker scored eight goals and tallied up a bumper 18 assists for the Whites, before leaving the building for a Premier League opportunity at Brighton and Hove Albion for £40m. Despite only being around for 66 matches, the skilful Frenchman is still very much fondly remembered, with pundit Jeff Stelling labelling him as a “class act” to watch in West Yorkshire.
Much like Rutter made everything look effortless and smooth donning Leeds white, Parrott has made goalscoring look like clockwork lining up for AZ Alkmaar.
He has netted a ludicrous 13 goals this season in all competitions from only 14 outings, meaning the Irishman is very much living up to his billing of being a “natural goalscorer”, which was handed to him by one of his former coaches in Darragh O’Riley, way back in 2019.
The hope would just be that Parrott would be able to enter the English game and be a hit from the first second he entered the Elland Road turf, with Leeds’ survival chances perhaps resting on the 23-year-old’s lethal instincts getting Farke and Co out of some sticky situations.
Games played
248
Goals scored
97
Assists
26
Career hat-tricks
6
Top goalscorer awards
2x
If he can be a reliable source of goals towards the foot of the difficult division, he will easily be able to reach the same fan favourite status as Rutter before him, with a mighty 97 career goals next to his name at the time of writing.
Parrott could well hit a century of goals in West Yorkshire; therefore, with his former international manager, Stephen Kenny, also noting that the in-demand centre-forward can “elevate” himself to that next level with ease, which could stand him in good stead to become a feared Premier League marksman.
Leeds would have to put their money where their mouth is in landing Parrott, but if the tale of Rutter is anything to go by, it could be worth splashing the big bucks in January as a new fan favourite is potentially unearthed.
Leeds can forget signing Ivan Toney by unleashing 17-year-old goal machine
Leeds United can forget about pursuing a move for Ivan Toney by unleashing one of their homegrown youngsters into the first team mix.
ByKelan Sarson