Chris Sutton feels Leeds United may have left Jesse Marsch short of attacking depth after letting rivals Fulham sign Dan James in a season-long loan deal late on during deadline day.
Dan James exit may leave Leeds United short after Fulham sign Wales winger
Chris Sutton has noted in his column for BBC Sport that it is fair to worry Leeds United may have a lack of forward depth after letting Fulham sign Dan James. The Wales winger sealed a season-long loan switch to Craven Cottage with an eleventh-hour move on deadline day.
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James only moved to Elland Road on deadline day last August after Marcelo Bielsa agreed a £25m deal with Manchester United. But Marsch has allowed the 24-year-old to leave for west London with his chances limited, having signed Wilfried Gnonto of FC Zurich for £4m.
Gnonto offers Marsch a recognised central forward option to support Patrick Bamford, Joe Gelhardt and Rodrigo in West Yorkshire. James had often featured in a centralised position for the Whites, despite being a natural winger able to operate from either side of the field.
Of James’ 36 Premier League appearances for the Whites, he made 18 as a centre-forward compared to seven games on the left-wing and nine on the right. He also scored two of his four top-flight goals for Leeds whilst featuring centrally, plus two of his total of five assists.
None of the 34-cap forward’s goals or assists came over four outings this term, of which he started just two. Marsch also took James off in the 84th-minute during his campaign debut at Southampton, despite only introducing the winger from the Leeds bench on 28 minutes.
His longest outing of the term thus far came against Chelsea, with 70 minutes as a starting presence at Elland Road. A starting role at Brighton & Hove Albion only gave 59 minutes on the pitch, before 14 minutes against Everton in James’ final outing before leaving on loan.
Jesse Marsch had hoped to add to wide ranks along with Wilfried Gnonto deal
Marsch will now rely on Luis Sinisterra, Jack Harrison and Crysencio Summerville to occupy the wider roles in his attack. Leeds had hoped to add Cody Gakpo to their dressing room in a deadline day swoop, but TEAMtalk note he had a late change of heart over a £34m deal.
Now, Sutton senses Leeds have left Marsch short of attacking depth by letting Fulham sign James on loan, despite their failure to secure a direct replacement for the Welsh speedster.
“Dan James joined Fulham on deadline day and he might be a bit of a loss for them,” wrote Sutton. “So, you maybe worry about the strength in depth a bit. But they got some good early signings in, and they’ve had a decent start. I can see this one ending in a [1-1] draw.”
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