Report suggests Leeds agreed Bartley loan before Swansea’s relegation

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Leeds United reportedly managed to agree a deal to sign Kyle Bartley on loan before Swansea City were relegated.

According to a report from Leeds Live, Leeds had managed to reach an agreement with Swansea for Kyle Bartley to return to Elland Road on loan before the Swans were relegated from the Premier League and the focus switched to a permanent deal.

Bartley appears to be one of the Whites’ top targets this summer. The centre-back was superb with the Yorkshire side during a loan spell in the 2016/17 season when Leeds did more than flirt with the top six in the Championship before finishing outside the play-off places following a dreadful run to end the campaign.

Bartley’s absence this past season has certainly been felt. Both Thomas Christiansen and Paul Heckingbottom have struggled to tighten up the defence over the last 12 months. And while previous stalwarts Rob Green and Charlie Taylor also left last summer, it was arguably Bartley’s return to his parent club that seemed to hurt Leeds the most.

It is perhaps unsurprising therefore, that the Whites appear to be keen on bringing Bartley back with Leeds Live reporting that Victor Orta wants to sign the defender on a permanent basis. The Yorkshire Evening Post recently reported that Leeds hope to pay around £4 million for a deal.

But it appears that had Carlos Carvalhal managed to keep Swansea in the top flight this past season, the deal for this summer may have been a lot simpler, with Leeds Live reporting that the two clubs had agreed a loan deal for the next campaign that fell through due to the Swans being relegated.

It is understandable that Swansea appear to have no desire to loan Bartley to a second tier rival, and it should be better for Leeds in the long run if they manage to get Bartley in this summer on a permanent basis.

But with plenty of uncertainty surrounding Bartley’s situation right now – especially as Swansea currently have no manager in place – perhaps there will be a part of Orta that will be frustrated that the club did not stay up as it appears that getting a loan deal done would have been much more straightforward in the short-term.