Are Leeds making right decision amid Kemar Roofe contract reports?

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Leeds United are reportedly yet to open talks with Kemar Roofe as well as a couple of teammates.

It will have surprised many when the Yorkshire Evening Post reported this week that Leeds are yet to open contract talks with Kemar Roofe as his deal runs into its final 18 months.

Roofe has been sensational this season, and has already reached double figures. It seems to be a no-brainer for Leeds to agree a new contract with the forward before the Whites are vulnerable to losing the 25-year-old in the manner that saw Chris Wood leave in 2017.

But while the Yorkshire Evening Post reported that Leeds did want to get Roofe’s future resolved by the end of the season, they have not started formal talks. It also appears from the report that the likes of Bailey Peacock-Farrell and Samuel Saiz are yet to start talks over extensions either.

And perhaps Leeds’ current stance has been inspired by the events of last season which saw many of the first-team squad agree new long-term deals at Elland Road.

The likes of Pontus Jansson, Liam Cooper, Eunan O’Kane and Luke Ayling penned fresh terms before the end of October last year.

It is impossible to criticise the thinking behind most of the contracts that Leeds handed out. But perhaps the timing somehow hurt the Whites as they looked to capitalise on their fantastic start to the season.

Leeds had won seven league games before the end of October – admittedly, many of those contracts had been agreed well before then – but only managed to collect 10 more wins before the end of the campaign/. They lost 14 league games in that time.

It is impossible to know whether the raft of new contracts had a negative impact on the team’s form, but it is interesting that the dip came once those contract situations were addressed.

Of course, Leeds will be delighted that they agreed terms with Jansson, Cooper and Kalvin Phillips amongst others. But perhaps the club now wonder whether it is worth avoiding all of the business that can be addressed further down the line while things are going so well on the pitch for Marcelo Bielsa’s side.