According to Alan Nixon writing in The Sun (15th July, page 59), Leeds United fans are going to wake up to Sunday news that Cardiff City are ready to make a mega-money bid for star midfielder Ronaldo Vieira.
19-year-old England Under-21 international Vieira has had a rise to heady heights over the last few seasons since making an end-of-season cameo début for Leeds United under Steve Evans in a 1-1 draw away against Preston North End.
The youngster has gone on to make 63 Sky Bet Championship appearances for United, scoring one goal and providing three assists along the way. But to know Ronaldo Vieira is to know that it is more than just the headline figures that make him the player that he is.
For a youngster he’s got an assured sense of control in the midst of what has often been something of a melting pot of a midfield at Elland Road since he made his breakthrough into the side. He’s now a season ‘veteran’, even at such a tender age, and his match-by-match performances are beginning to demonstrate that.
Such consistent, stand-out performances were soon going to start catching the eyes of admirers beyond the confines of Elland Road and that is the case. Cardiff City are said by The Sun to be ready to test Leeds United’s resolve by putting in an eye-watering £8 million bid to wrench him away from West Yorkshire.
Yesterday Nixon teased this news with the above quoted retweet after a question from a Leeds United fan. To put it lightly, the news that Cardiff are said readying an £8 million plunge for Vieira is more than a “surprise” for Leeds United fans to wake up to this morning; it’s more of a deep-seated shock.
Ronaldo Vieira is viewed by many Leeds United fans as akin to one of the crown jewels of the Elland Road set-up, a rated youngster who must be kept and a team built around. To wake up to knowledge that there’s a former foe, and one managed by former Whites boss Neil Warnock, interested in snapping him up is something that will not go down well on social media today.
