Report: Gavin Whyte’s dream Leeds United move in doubt following Bielsa arrival

Follow us on Google Discover

Championship giants Leeds United looked set to win the race for highly-rated Crusaders winger Gavin Whyte – but will he move to Elland Road?

Not many players get their chance in a massive English club after impressing over in Ireland, but Gavin Whyte looked set to be an exception.

Sky Sports reported back in May that Leeds United were in talks about signing the 21-year-old winger on the back of a stellar 2017/18 season in which he established himself as the biggest talent in Northern Irish football.

Whyte’s 21 goals fired Crusaders to a third league title in four years, earning himself the Ulster Player of the Year award to boot. And it seemed that Whyte was destined to follow his hero Stuart Dallas (below) to Elland Road. Now, however, things don’t seem so sure.

Paul Heckingbottom was Leeds’ manager when Whyte was first linked, but the arrival of Marcelo Bielsa, who is expected to have a much bigger say on recruitment than the former Barnsley boss, has cast a deal into doubt.

The Belfast Telegraph claims that Whyte is ‘in limbo’ with his move to West Yorkshire now hanging in the balance. It is understood that Bielsa could have scuppered the move with the Argentine looking to trim, rather than add to, an already hefty squad.

“It has all gone very quiet,” Crusaders manager Stephen Baxter told the Belfast Telegraph.

It remains to be seen whether Whyte’s dream move has cruelly been snatched away.