Leeds United missed out on signing Manchester City’s Bersant Celina on loan – and he scored a stunner for Ipswich Town on Saturday.
It says a lot about Leeds United’s inspired recruitment this summer that Bersant Celina’s sublime goal for Ipswich Town on Saturday will not have supporters rueing their club’s failure to land the Manchester City talent.
Leeds struggled for creativity last season and were over reliant upon ageing Spaniard Pablo Hernandez, whose dip in form during the spring coincided with a disastrous run of results which cost Garry Monk’s side a place in the play-offs.
Celina, one of the most highly-rated talents in City’s academy and blessed with real technical ability, could have gone some way to taking the pressure off Hernandez. He scored five goals and set up four more during a promising loan spell at FC Twente last season.
Instead, however, even Celina’s long-range worldie in Ipswich’s 2-1 defeat at Queens Park Rangers on Saturday will not have been met with a frustrated response from Leeds supporters.
After all, their new director of football Victor Orta masterminded a superb summer of recruitment which saw Samu Saiz and Ezgjan Alioski arrive at Elland Road on bargain deals from Spanish second division outfit Huesca and Swiss side Lugano respectively.
The attacking duo, fans favourites after just a few games in England, have taken Leeds to a new level already and Saiz in particular (below) looks a cut above in the second tier.
Leeds are currently second in the table and their new-found firepower was clear for all to see as they swept aside Burton Albion 5-0 on Saturday – their biggest win since 2004.
Celina would undoubtedly have been an excellent addition. But, thanks to Orta, Leeds missing out on the City youngster hardly looks a disaster.
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