Leeds United fans are walking around at the moment is something resembling a daze. Things are going smoothly at Elland Road for a change, nothing yet has gone wrong.
Transfers have been brought over the line, there are players like German keeper Felix Wiedwald said incoming soon and there are more players in the transfer pipeline such as Samu Saiz and Ezgjan Alioski. The club have also bought back Elland Road – returning the ‘church’ to its followers.
But aside from all that, Leeds fans will admit that the concern lies at the heart of the defence where, if truth be told, resources are more than a little threadbare. Pontus Jansson is the only central defender that inspires confidence in fans’ minds, and he’s banned for the first two games of the 2017/18 Championship campaign.
Rumours are everywhere. What do you think of the following four linked to the Whites? Let us know your thoughts.
Since Kyle Bartley returned to Swansea, with many Leeds United fans thinking that he will join former Whites head coach Garry Monk at Middlesbrough, fans have been pleading for a replacement at the heart of defence to partner Pontus Jansson.
Earlier today, Goal.com said that Leeds United had cast more than an eye in the direction of Swedish international Filip Helander. Starting off by stating that Helander is valued by Bologna at €6 million/£5.28 million, Goal.com go on to say as much as United have made their interest firm “with Leeds having made an opening offer more in the region of €4m (£3.5 million).”
If Leeds United fans are crying out for a player to partner Pontus Jansson in the heart of Leeds’ defence then a player of Helander’s capabilities and calibre would definitely be that player. In the 2012/13 Allsvenskan season, Helander and Jansson played together 13 times as a centre-back pairing in a Malmö side that won the league that year, This included a seven game stretch at the end of the season where they won six games and conceded just the two goals. They also featured together nine times the following season before Jansson’s move to Torino.
With some fans shaking their heads and dismissing this link as invented fantasy, BBC Radio Leeds’ Adam Pope (tweet – below) offers a little hope.
A contact in Italy says Donadoni likes Helander but adds Bologna are open to offers for most players, especially at £3-4m. #lufc
— Adam Pope (@apopey) June 29, 2017
Popey also adds some spice to any piqued Leeds United fan interest in the availability of Helander being more than just a pipe dream with the following tweet.
The Filip Helander link to #lufc is interesting. Bologna have just signed 2 defenders in De Maio & Gonzalez.
— Adam Pope (@apopey) June 29, 2017
Helander moved from the Swedish Allsvenskan to Italy’s Serie A in late July 2015, signing for Hellas Verona for a fee reported to be around £850,000. He made 28 appearances for Verona, scoring twice, before a season-long loan to Bologna in a complicated state of affairs that saw Nicolò Cherubin go the opposite way. He is said to have officially become a Bologna player on June 12, just over a fortnight ago.
Should Leeds United be able to really firm up their interest in Helander, and bring him to the club, it might just be that level of signing that will pay off. It could be just like the Pontus Jansson capture from Torino, a class player coming in to the club and hitting the ground running.
