Kemar Roofe is heading into the final year of his Leeds United contract, and is attracting attention this summer.
Noel Whelan has told BBC Radio Leeds that Leeds have made a big error not getting Kemar Roofe tied down to a new contract at Elland Road, with the striker now attracting attention at the start of the final year of his current deal.
Roofe went this summer off the back of his most impressive campaign for the Whites yet. He had scored 14 goals before mid-January, and had scored the goal which gave Marcelo Bielsa’s side the advantage after the first-leg of the Championship play-off semi-final.
But it appears that his future at Elland Road is in doubt. The Scottish Sun reported at the weekend that Rangers are interested in the 26-year-old, and Leeds are looking for just £5 million with their top goalscorer out of contract next summer.
It is an alarming situation for Leeds, who The Scottish Sun reports still want to agree a new contract with Roofe. And Whelan has suggested that the Whites have no-one to blame but themselves if they feel forced to sell the former Oxford United man in the coming weeks.
“You’re talking about running a business here and keeping hold of assets. A contract should have been put in place and signed probably at the beginning of last season, maybe January, when we could see that he was doing well and the team were doing well,” he told BBC Radio Leeds.
“You can’t allow a striker who’s been your top scorer to run down to a year in his contract. That’s not good work by the football club. So now they’re under a little bit of pressure of thinking about selling a player and cashing in for £5 million, when really, he’s probably worth £10 million as a striker.
“So you’re losing on both ends. You’re losing a striker and you’re losing money because you’ve allowed the contract to run down to this stage.”
With Jack Clarke and Pontus Jansson sealing moves elsewhere, and Kalvin Phillips heavily linked with a switch to Aston Villa (via The Sun), losing Roofe would compound what is threatening to be a really disappointing summer for last season’s promotion contenders.
Leeds have made some exciting moves in the transfer market – with Helder Costa the obvious standout, and Clarke returning immediately on loan – but if the likes of Phillips and Roofe follow their former teammates out the door, the Whites may need to have something special up their sleeve before the deadline passes.
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