OPINION: Byram, a case of deja vu for Leeds United?

Jermaine Beckford is a player who still gets a fantastic reception whenever he comes back to Elland Road. He scored the goal that beat Man Utd in the cup and scored the goal that took us took us to promotion in 2010. He is in my opinion a Leeds legend.

However, the mistake Leeds made with Beckford was not tying him down to a contact soon enough and the when the summer of 2010 came around he was released on a free and signed by Everton.
With hindsight it was the correct decision, because had we sold him in January and cashed in before his contract ended, chances are we wouldn’t have promoted that season.  Beckford never made the impact he would of liked in the Premier League, and after being sold to Leicester and Bolton he found himself basically where he started, being promoted from league 1 with Simon Grayson in charge.
Leeds are back in a similar situation to 5 years ago with another young talent Sam Byram. He is a fans favourite and has really made a name for himself in the past 2 seasons when he has become a first team regular. He has failed to impress so far this season but many fans still think he can pull it out of the bag and be a big player for Leeds United this season.
He has recently turned down a contract offer from the club and it is looking more and more inevitable he will leave either in January or next summer. But if Byram decides his future lies outside of West Yorkshire when is the right time to cash in?
If Leeds were to sell in January they are unlikely to receive bids of the £10m reported in the summer because clubs would only have 6 months before they could get him for a lot less than that. I would think of Sam went in January Leeds would be looking at £5m-£6m for him. Given his current form however it could be even less.
Going back to Beckford, the prime example of why not to sell a quality player in January. He dragged us through the second half of 2009/10 and eventually won us promotion. So even though we didn’t receive a transfer fee for him he paid us with promotion.
If we let his contract run out he would inevitably find a Premier League club to offer him a contract. This would mean Leeds receiving very little for the right sided player. There are new rules on the sale of young players who are out of contract. These rules basically say that because the player is under 24 Leeds will receive compensation for his sale, this will be decided between the buying and selling club, and if no agreement can be reached the Football League steps in to decide for them. Got a headache? Me too.
Either way, Leeds will receive a transfer fee for Byram, but it will be considerably less in the summer than in January.
Leeds have a decision to make, is Byram in the same mould as Beckford where he can win us promotion if we keep him from January to May.
Honestly, and it pains me to say it but I think if the contract negotiations are not at an end by January we would be better to cash in on Byram when we will receive a good fee for him. His form this season has been lacklustre compared to last season. If we keep him for another 6 months I don’t think it would do us a massive amount of good.
He is of course a huge talent and will be missed at Elland Road. We should however get a fee for him that matches his talent, rather than crawling around in July looking for scraps in compensation from Premier League clubs.
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