Leeds United reportedly turned down the chance to sign Chris Martin from Championship rivals Derby County, who instead joined Hull City on loan.
While Leeds United fans will obviously be wishing they could have celebrated a long-awaited promotion to the Premier League last weekend, the fact that they have gone from the bottom half to the play-offs in just 12 months should not be forgotten.
Leeds might have fallen short in the final weeks of the season but they have still made huge progress under Marcelo Bielsa. So much so that this feels like a different club altogether from the one that limped over the line under Paul Heckingbottom.
These days, it seems almost laughable that an ambitious Leeds side would make a move for a player like Chris Martin, an ageing and arguably past-his-best Championship stalwart who was heavily linked with The Whites a year ago.
According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds backed out of a deal for the Derby County forward as they were concerned that he would break their wage structure. Perhaps they were more concerned that he simply wasn’t good enough for a side seeking promotion.
And they’d probably have been right. Since joining Hull City on loan last summer, Martin has scored just two goals in 30 league games for Nigel Adkins’ side.
While Patrick Bamford, Leeds’ number one striker, has endured plenty of criticism recently, he’s got a far better record than the man they could have signed instead.
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