Leeds United have joined the race to sign Kian Breckin from Premier League champions-elect Manchester City but Stuart McKinstry could be about to leave Elland Road on a free transfer.
Over the last 12 months or so, a number of youngsters who joined Leeds United during the Marcelo Bielsa era have bid farewell in pursuit of regular first-team football.
It’s worked out pretty well for Leif Davis at Ipswich Town; a Team of the Season inductee and promotion winner at Portman Road. Mateusz Bogusz, meanwhile, is making a name for himself in the MLS at Los Angeles FC.
Scotland U21 international McKinstry, the Daily Record say, is now likely to depart too. His contract expires this summer. And the winger – who made his first-team debut under Bielsa back in 2021 – has admirers on both sides of the border.
One youngster in, one youngster out at Leeds United
“(Bielsa) was mental, in a good way. I don’t think I could ever come across someone quite like him again,” McKinstry told the BBC last year after returning to Motherwell on loan.
“What he did for me and a lot of the other young boys was mental. He gave us so much time and put so much effort into the young boys when he didn’t have to.
“Even when results weren’t going the first team’s way, he would still focus on the young boys. That made us feel part of what they were doing.”
Leeds chairman Andrea Radrizzani – following so much investment into the club’s U23 team – will be hoping that whoever replaces Sam Allardyce at Elland Road will share Bielsa’s obsession with youth development.
After snapping up the likes of Joe Gelhardt, Mateo Joseph, Sonny Perkins, Crysencio Summerville, Wilfried Gnonto, and Sam Greenwood, the Daily Mail believe that 19-year-old Breckin could be on his way to Thorp Arch from Man City.
Breckin has come on leaps and bounds in recent months. He has eight goals and four assists from central midfield in Premier League 2, but the quality of those ahead of him in the Etihad Stadium pecking order could convince the Manchester-born midfielder to follow in Gelhardt and Greenwood’s footsteps.
The Daily Mail believe that Newcastle are also keen.
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