With questions over Kyle Bartley’s future, Leeds may need to line up other centre back targets for this summer.
Leeds manager Garry Monk
During Garry Monk’s time at Leeds United, he has shown a tendency to sign players he has already worked with at Swansea City.
Midfielder Matt Grimes, playmaker Pablo Hernandez and winger Modou Barrow have all joined Leeds this season having played for Monk in South Wales.
The most successful of his ex-Swansea players has been Kyle Bartley, who has starred in the heart of defence alongside Pontus Jansson for Monk’s promotion-chasing side.
Whilst centre back partner Jansson is set for a permanent move to Elland Road this summer, Bartley’s future remains up in the air, as parent club Swansea may want to keep hold of him given some defensive issues this season.
Manager Paul Clement will surely want to take a look at Bartley before allowing him to leave permanently, meaning Leeds should be looking at alternative targets for the summer transfer window.
One player that fits the bill as a replacement for Bartley is Queens Park Rangers’ Steven Caulker, who played alongside Monk in the Swansea defence during a loan spell in the 2011-12 Premier League season.
Caulker, now 25, was once tipped for stardom and even has one England cap to his name, but he has struggled to settle in recent years, joining Cardiff in 2013, QPR in 2014, Southampton in 2015 and Liverpool in 2016.
Back at QPR this term, Caulker has made 14 appearances but hasn’t played since October, and saw a move to Russian side Lokomotiv Moscow collapse in January, leaving his future at Loftus Road in doubt.
Caulker needs a manager who believes in him, and a club where he can play at such a crucial time of his career – and Monk may be able to offer that with Leeds United.
Steven Caulker warms up during his time at Liverpool
Back in 2014, Monk told the South Wales Evening Post that he felt Caulker had too much inconsistency in his career having gone from club to club, but called him a ‘very good defender’ and backed him for a big future.
“It is difficult when you have had a few moves within a few years to get that consistency,” said Monk. “You are best when you are settled. He went to Cardiff, he didn’t settle so well there albeit I thought he was one of their better performers, and obviously at QPR now he’s finding his feet again.”
“But he’s a very good defender. You could tell that from when he was here. Potential-wise, he’s still very young and developing. I think his career will just go up and up,” he added.
Caulker looks set to leave QPR this summer, and given that Monk has shown a penchant for signing players he knows and trusts, the centre back should be on Leeds’ radar as a player who could be targeted should a permanent deal for Bartley be off the table.
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