Leeds United are reportedly eyeing a £10 million move for Matej Vydra this summer, and could include Tom Pearce in the deal.
Leeds undoubtedly need to sign a striker this summer and Vydra finished the latest Championship season as the highest goalscorer in the division. But given the fee that it would reportedly take to sign the Czech Republic international, it is surely fair to say that Vydra would arrive under an enormous amount of pressure to succeed.
As shown by transfermarkt, Leeds have spent more than £5 million on a single signing just once since 2002, and under the likes of Ken Bates and GFH, the Elland Road faithful became used to writing off the club’s hopes of signing a potential target once their asking price was more than a very low seven-figure fee.
The fanfare therefore, that would greet Vydra if he did arrive would be huge, but so would the expectation. And the expectation would increase significantly if Leeds helped push the deal through by allowing one of their players to head to Pride Park.
Pearce is one of the most highly-rated prospects within the Whites squad after an extremely impressive run in the first-team towards the end of this past season.
Letting the defender go therefore, would be a hugely unpopular decision. The move would not be Vydra’s fault of course, but a player-plus-cash deal would ramp up the pressure on his shoulders and he would surely have to hit the ground running to prevent the atmosphere not turning negative.
Vydra could turn into a superb signing for Leeds if everything falls into place. But with the pressure already likely to be on with that kind of fee, the Whites are arguably doing him absolutely no favours if they consider allowing Pearce to head to Derby as part of the deal.
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