Good morning, here’s Leeds United morning digest for Saturday, 26 September.
Former Arsenal midfielder tips Leeds to suffer big defeat
Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson believes that Leeds United’s playing style will result in them suffering a heavy defeat in the Premier League sooner or later.
Both of United’s matches so far this season have ended 4-3, with Marcelo Bielsa’s men going home empty-handed away from Liverpool but giving the champions a test, before coming out on top of a seven-goal thriller against Fulham last Saturday.
“I’m not convinced by Leeds. They could easily have lost to Fulham and a really good team are going to beat them heavily soon,” he wrote in his Daily Star column .
“Leeds got lots of praise for the way they played at Anfield but I thought Liverpool just turned up expecting to win and didn’t take them seriously enough. They won’t finish where everyone seems to think they will – but they will finish above West Brom.”
Daniel James transfer value revealed
The MEN report that Manchester United aren't willing to allow Daniel James to leave the club this summer, but may do so if they make a breakthrough in their pursuit of Borussia Dortmund forward Jadon Sancho.
The report also goes on to state that they value the Wales international, who famously was on the cusp of a transfer to Leeds back in January 2019, in the region of £12m.
The deal collapsed after Swansea pulled the plug late on transfer deadline day, in spite of the speedy winger having done his medical and media duties at Elland Road.
Six months later he instead made the switch to Manchester United, but with mixed form in his debut season at Old Trafford and Leeds’ new-found Premier League status, there’s potential for a transfer to be resurrected 18 months on.
Here’s the full story .
Alfie McCalmont joins Oldham Athletic on loan
Leeds academy graduate Alfie McCalmont has joined League Two side Oldham Athletic on a season-long loan.
The 20-year-old midfielder has already been capped at senior international level with Northern Ireland, but has struggled to break into Marcelo Bielsa’s first-team at Elland Road.
The youngster will spend the 2020/21 developing his game under former Leeds winger Harry Kewell, who was appointed as Oldham’s new manager over the summer.
McCalmont is eligible to make his debut for the Latics tomorrow at Boundary Park when they take on Crawley Town.
