Leeds United are reportedly keen to bring Jake Clarke-Salter to the Championship. Is he ready for Premier League football at Chelsea?
Leeds United have signed one new centre-back in Ben White. And, if reports are to be believed, Jake Clarke-Salter could be about to join him at Elland Road to form a partnership that could be absolutely tailor made for Marcelo Bielsa.
After a slow start to the transfer window, Leeds are clicking into gear. They confirmed the arrivals of Ben White and Jack Harrison on loan from Brighton and Manchester City on Monday while Helder Costa, Liam McCarron and Rafa Mujica are expected to arrive at Elland Road in the next few days, as reported by The Telegraph and the Yorkshire Evening Post.
But could England U21 international Clarke-Salter also be on his way to West Yorkshire? Goal claims that he is keen on a temporary move to Leeds this summer.
The 21-year-old obviously has a taste for regular action after spending the 2018/19 campaign with Vitesse Arnhem in Holland and he’d only enhance his development by working under Marcelo Bielsa at Elland Road.
But could Clarke-Salter form an all new, ball-playing centre-half partnership with Ben White at Leeds?
They’d both fit comfortably into Bielsa’s possession-based blueprint while providing some much needed competition for the passionate yet error-prone Liam Cooper and the unpredictable Pontus Jansson.
Clarke-Salter completed a remarkable 94 per cent of his passes for England at the U21 European Championships in Italy, a tally far higher than Jansson or Cooper managed last season. White is similarly renowned for his excellent distribution from the back.
So Cooper and Jansson should watch their back. Bielsa has proven throughout his long career that he has no qualms about replacing an experienced fans’ favourite with an untested youngster if he better suits the coach’s tactical plans
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