Leeds United are amongst the sides keen on signing Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Keiren Westwood during the summer.
Paul Heckingbottom has not enjoyed the easiest first few months at Leeds, with results hardly capturing the imagination and a number of fans currently doubting whether he is the right man to take the club forward given his lack of experience. He would argue however, that once their play-off hopes were essentially dashed, his priority was learning about all of the squad ahead of the summer – even if that led to results taking a further nosedive.
Some areas of the side clearly require attention. But one area of the team should perhaps only have a question mark over it despite looking like a poor Leeds side’s main weakness just a couple of months ago.
When Heckingbottom came in, Felix Wiedwald’s second run as number one goalkeeper was starting to capitulate and with Andy Lonergan sidelined, he eventually decided to hand Bailey Peacock-Farrell a chance – a chance that most would have suspected would have simply given the academy graduate the opportunity to get some more senior football under his belt and perhaps push for the number two spot next season.
Few would have suspected that Peacock-Farrell would do well enough to put himself right in the discussion for next season’s number one. He has arguably been Leeds’ best player since the head coach changed and that has left Heckingbottom with a dilemma.
Signing a new goalkeeper has arguably gone from being a necessity to being an ideal scenario if a standout option comes onto the market this summer as Peacock-Farrell – who is still awaiting his first clean sheet despite his frequent heroics – looks capable of handling the responsibility, perhaps with Lonergan as his understudy. But it appears that Leeds may have found the perfect answer to their problem with The Sun recently suggesting that they want Sheffield Wednesday’s Keiren Westwood.
Giving the rivalry – both in terms of the Championship and geographically – it may have been difficult to see the Owls sanctioning a sale to Leeds, but perhaps the path is now slightly clearer with a report suggesting that Wednesday have a goalkeeper on their own radar.
The Scottish Sun has suggested that the Owls want Rangers stopper Wes Foderingham, and if they get him through the door, it is difficult to see why they would want to keep hold of Westwood given that they also have Joe Wildsmith impressing right now.
If Wednesday win the race for Foderingham, it would appear that Leeds have a brilliant chance to get Westwood and make sure that they go into next season able to view their options between the sticks as a real strength just a couple of months after it looked like the area that needed, by far, the most attention over the summer.
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