West Ham snubbed Leeds United’s approach for Ashley Fletcher last season.
Leeds manager Garry Monk talks to Pontus Jansson
Leeds United narrowly missed out on the play-offs last season, with their late fall off in form tied to a failure to bring in their top targets in the transfer window.
No player was linked to Leeds more in 2016/17 than West Ham striker Ashley Fletcher, with The Sun reporting the ex-Barnsley loanee was a top target for the Whites.
West Ham United’s Ashley Fletcher has a shot at goal
Fletcher, 20, was kept around by Slaven Bilic but made a total of two Premier League starts at West Ham all season. Both of these occurred in 2016.
West Ham gained nothing from keeping Fletcher, and comments from club co-owner David Gold at the weekend made clear that the team’s strategy is to loan young players.
Fletcher is 21, but has no Premier League experience at Manchester United previously. His earlier loan spell was in League One with Barnsley, and he was unable to establish himself in West Ham’s first team.
As a late bloomer, he essentially falls into the category of a teenager when discussing his development and number of senior starts.
The striker would have been better off at Leeds United where he could have played more regularly, and partnered Chris Wood in attack.
Sunderland’s Javi Manquillo in action with West Ham United’s Ashley Fletcher
Having failed to crack the first team at West Ham, Leeds should take encouragement that they might stand a chance of getting him on loan next season, but if Gold had stuck to his beliefs – the Whites would already have had him on board, and could now be preparing for a play-off final.
West Ham’s decision to keep Fletcher was directly tied to their own failure to bring in a top striker, forcing their hand to keep him around.
Gold’s comments suggest that if they had landed a forward, the door would have opened to loan Fletcher out, and show how close a deal could have been.
As it turned out, all parties would have been better off if it happened regardless.
West Ham United’s Ashley Fletcher in action
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