English football may be on lockdown due to the Coronavirus outbreak spreading across the world but that hasn’t curtailed sides jockeying for position ahead of the opening of the summer transfer window – albeit it with the uncertainty surrounding the current season. Such jockeying has seen, according to The Sun’s Alan Nixon, as Leeds United enter into a competition to land teen striker Anthony Weston from Blackpool.
That ‘competition’ sees the Whites going against Premier League side Everton and SPL side Rangers as they look to bring another highly-rated youngster to West Yorkshire and Elland Road. The Whites are a side who aren’t afraid of blooding youngsters bought from lower league sides, evidence of that can be seen through the exposure that has been given to Leif ‘Very Good’ Davis (bought from Morecambe) and Jordan Stevens (signed from Forest Green Rovers).
The Sun’s Nixon says that a “bidding war could rage” as the trio of high-profile sides battle against each other to land a player seen as hot property and one who each side will think that they can develop what with the potential that he has. A £250,000 deal to take Weston to Southampton, that fell through, gives some indication of what worth is placed in the young striker.
The 16-year-old has broken into the Tangerines first-team squad this season, making his debut as a last-gasp substitute in Blackpool’s 3-1 FA Cup victory over Maidstone United in December last year. Before that, Weston also made the Seasiders’ bench for the 3-1 EFL trophy loss in November at home against Scunthorpe.
The trio of sides mentioned by Nixon in his article, and highlighted above, will have taken less notice of his limited exposure to first-team football and will be more interested in the stack of goals that he has scored for Blackpool’s Under-18s this season.
