Has Thomas Christiansen suggested Kemar Roofe could be long-term Chris Wood successor?

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Kemar Roofe scored a hat-trick for Leeds United against Newport County in the EFL Cup on Tuesday evening.

Leeds United head coach Thomas Christiansen has suggested to The Telegraph & Argus that Kemar Roofe could be the long-term successor to Chris Wood.

Wood has left Championship club Leeds for Premier League outfit Burnley in the summer transfer window.

The New Zealand international striker scored 27 goals in the Championship last season, as the Whites narrowly failed to finish in the playoffs.

Replacing a striker of Wood’s quality would be tough for Leeds, especially at this stage of the summer transfer window, but could Roofe be the man to take over?

The 24-year-old has been deployed out wide as a winger, but the Englishman can also operate as a striker.

The £3 million 2016 summer signing from Oxford United – as reported by BBC Sport – played as striker against Newport County in the second round of the EFL Cup on Tuesday evening.

Roofe was the star of the show for the Championship club, as he scored a hat-trick in their 5-1 victory at Elland Road.

After the match, Leeds head coach Christiansen suggested that Roofe could be deployed as a striker in the long run.

“We know the quality of Roofe,” Christiansen told The Telegraph & Argus. “He can play up front, he’s done that before. We knew what he could give.

“In his first appearance as a striker, to score three goals is very good. He could be an option long term. If you see how he played up front today, he scored nice goals.

“We can still play the direct way, we can play with balls in the space and we can play into his feet. We have many possibilities if we should play with him.”