Leeds United are set to battle with a Premier League rival for an exciting talent, but they may need to wait until the summer …
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That’s according to reports from Spain which noted the Whites’ competing interest with Newcastle United to sign Gonzalo Plata.
The Ecuadorian would be regarded as a big sale for Real Valladolid, although the report notes that a January move seems unlikely despite the strong interest from England.
Should he move to the UK, it would likely be at a much higher price than the €10m (£8.5m) initially expended by the Spanish club. However, given a lack of options out wide at Elland Road, Victor Orta might have his hand forced.
Their own Kulusevski
As mentioned, there is an alarming dearth of options when it comes to wide reinforcements at Leeds.
With Luis Sinisterra currently injured, having joined in the summer, and Crysencio Summerville only just breaking through, Jack Harrison is the only other out-and-out winger still at the club.
This means that, even when one of those is underperforming, Jesse Marsch has little in the way of rotation. The latter has actually not offered a single goal contribution in his last ten Premier League games, highlighting the need for Orta to sign someone else.
In Plata, the Whites would be getting a tricky south American to bring bundles of flair and speed to Marsch’s side.
Journalist Pete O’Rourke has profiled the 22-year-old, calling him “a pacey winger who can play wide on the left”, also suggesting that he could be “gettable” in January.
Having excelled last season in the Spanish second tier, the 33-cap wizard has more than earned his place in the senior Ecuador squad. A return of 11 goal contributions in his first full season in a new country was impressive, especially considering that he also ranked in the top 7% for dribbles completed among positional peers in Europe.
At the very least, his addition would provide Leeds with added firepower to give opposition defenders something to consider. Indeed, Plata’s unpredictability had led to him being labelled a “trickster” by journalist Adrian Blanco.
Being able to pick up the ball and burst into the space would create gaps for his team-mates to exploit in a similar way that Dejan Kulusevski does for Tottenham Hotspur. It is therefore no surprise to see the Sweden international listed amongst his ‘similar players’ on FBRef.
Whilst he is unlikely to have such a blistering impact, Plata’s potential move to Elland Road is one of necessity. It could turn out to be incredibly fruitful, though, should he record even half the input that Kulusevski has at Spurs, for whom the Swede has made 19 goal contributions in just 32 games so far.