Noel Whelan not impressed by Leeds target Oli McBurnie

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Leeds United’s reported summer target lined up against the Whites at Elland Road at the weekend.

Noel Whelan has told BBC Radio Leeds that he thought that reported Leeds target Oli McBurnie did not manage to overly impress him when he lined up against the Whites at the weekend.

The Scottish Sun reported recently that Leeds are amongst the sides keen on signing the young striker at the end of the season and that he is interested in making the move to Elland Road – though it remains to be seen if anything comes of the links at the end of the season.

McBurnie got the chance to impress Paul Heckingbottom – the man who signed him for Barnsley in the January transfer window – when the Tykes faced Leeds on Saturday. And with eight goals coming in 13 appearances during the loan spell, the Whites fans must have feared that he may be about to haunt them.

But, while McBurnie did have the ball in the net, he was unable to have a major impact on the game as Leeds ran out 2-1 winners with the forward’s goal chalked off for offside. And after the game, Whelan admitted thinking that Leeds should be setting their sights higher.

“I thought he was okay. He wasn’t setting my world alight. If we’re going to get a striker, I’d like to get something a little bit better, I’ll be honest. It’s such a crucial part of the pitch where you want someone prolific that’s going to be getting you 25,” he told BBC Radio Leeds.

“I’m always a little bit sceptical about people who have that kind of nonchalant run and that slow pace when going at people, but look, he did okay. He’s not someone I would be looking at that would fit a Leeds United shirt but who knows?”

While Whelan was not overly impressed by McBurnie, it could certainly be argued that Leeds should definitely keep him on their radar ahead of the summer as overhauling the striker options has to be a priority for Heckingbottom.

Despite only spending half the season at Oakwell, Pierre-Michel Lasogga and Kemar Roofe are the only Leeds players to have scored more goals in the Championship this term than McBurnie, and the former is surely set to return to Germany at the end of his loan spell.

So if Leeds did sign McBurnie in some capacity in the summer and he managed to maintain his current strike-rate for the entirety of the campaign, it seems highly unlikely that Whelan will have any complaints about the deal to bring him in at all.