One of Leeds United’s summer striking targets has netted once in 10 Championship games.
The Sun reported in July that Leeds United were interested in signing Ashley Fletcher from West Ham United.
Leeds’ interest in the former Manchester United product dates back to Garry Monk’s time in charge of the Whites and the 38-year-old now-Middlesbrough manager beat his former club to the 22-year-old’s signature in August.
Monk paid £6.5 million to sign the young marksman but fans of the Elland Road club might be glad to see that their old boss is struggling to get the best out of him, but also that they potentially dodged a big bullet.
Despite his big-money move, Fletcher has only managed to start just one Championship game for Boro and one goal in 10 overall league appearances may suggest it’s not going completely to plan.
At the moment, the young hitman certainly does not represent a good return for the money and Leeds can’t afford to waste such big figures. Signing him for that price would’ve been a gamble and there’s little to suggest it wouldn’t have backfired.
It should be noted that Fletcher – who only managed seven League One goals for Bristol City in 26 games during the 2015-16 campaign – has the misfortune of playing second fiddle to Britt Assombalonga, who has five Championship goals in 11 matches.
It’s far too early in the day to label him a waste of money, but he has a long, long way to go before he justifies such an exorbitant fee and any Leeds supporters who wanted Andrea Radrizzani to splash that sort of cash might be glad he didn’t.
One of the men United signed instead was highly-rated prospect Jay-Roy Grot, a striker of similar height and qualities, but £5 million cheaper and three years younger.
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