‘Strong option’: Prolific forward admits he could’ve joined Bielsa’s Leeds; 8 goals in 11 games

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Finland international Joel Pohjanpalo has admitted that he could have joined Leeds United in January before joining Hamburg on loan instead, speaking to HS in his homeland.

There has never been any doubt about the Bayer Leverkusen-owned forward’s ability to put the ball in the back of the net.

Pohjanpalo shot to fame with the most lethal of hat-tricks in only his second appearance for the Bundesliga giants four years ago, finding the net six times in 11 matches overall during 2016/17.

But a series of never-ending injury problems have prevented the Scandinavian striker from getting onto the pitch as often as he would have liked since that eye-catching debut campaign.

Pohjanpalo has found form and fitness at Hamburg, however, over the last few months.

Since moving to the second-tier side in the January window, he has found the net eight times in 11 matches as the grand old underachievers of German football fight for a return to the top-flight.

But, speaking to a publication in his native Finland, the 32-time international has admitted that another promotion-chasing side had tried to sign him in the winter.

“Hamburg met the criteria I wanted. Another strong option was Leeds United in the English Championship,” Pohjanpalo explains. “It was a strong option. The club was close to rising to the Premier League.

“Hamburg and Leeds both play in more or less the same way.”

Pohjanpalo suggests that the main reason why he didn’t end up in Elland Road was that Leverkusen wanted him to stay in Germany for the remainder of the 2019/20 campaign, allowing them to monitor his progress more closely.

Leeds did end up signing another promising young striker on loan, in the shape of RB Leipzig frontman Jean-Kevin Augustin.

But while Pohjanpalo has put his injury issues behind him, those very same problems have plagued Augustin at Elland Road. He has played just 49 minutes of Championship football thus far and suffered a setback prior to Sunday’s clash with Cardiff City.