Kyle Bartley reports could pile pressure on surprise Leeds target Matty Pennington

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Leeds United are reportedly interested in re-signing Matthew Pennington on loan.

While the large majority of the Leeds fans appear to be a lot happier than they were earlier in the summer after a run of deals that have seen the likes of Barry Douglas, Jack Harrison and Patrick Bamford all arrive at Elland Road in quick succession, there does appear to be one major concern still to address in Marcelo Bielsa’s squad.

The Whites still look short of options at centre-back with Gaetano Berardi filling in alongside Liam Cooper at times during pre-season. Even with Pontus Jansson now back training following the World Cup, it still appears that Leeds need further depth in that area of the pitch.

According to the Liverpool Echo, one player that Bielsa has his eye on is Everton’s Matthew Pennington, who spent the entirety of last season on loan with the Championship side.

Pennington struggled during his year with Leeds. There were only brief glimpses of Premier League quality from the 23-year-old as injury and questionable form meant that there was not a lot of disappointment when he returned to Goodison Park at the end of the campaign.

With time running out to get players in and with Everton clearly having a lot of faith in Pennington – the Liverpool Echo reports that he was handed a new long-term contract upon his return to Merseyside – the youngster may normally be a welcome addition, but given a decision that the club reportedly made earlier this summer, he would arguably return under an enormous amount of pressure to succeed.

The defender that the large majority of Leeds fans wanted to see return for much of the early stages of the summer was Kyle Bartley, who the Yorkshire Evening Post recently reported started the window right at the top of the Whites’ list of targets.

However, he ended up heading to West Brom for £4 million, with the Yorkshire Evening Post adding that Leeds halted their pursuit around the time that Bielsa was appointed.

It was an unpopular decision. And if Pennington does come in and struggles once again, it may not be a surprise if the board get a lot of grief for the fact that they decided to apparently give up on signing Bartley.

It would not be Pennington’s fault if he becomes the man that Bielsa brings in rather than Bartley, but perhaps he faces an even more difficult task trying to win the fans over if he takes on a role that many of the Leeds supporters wanted filled by someone else.