Leeds United are reportedly keen to keep Matthew Pennington for next season.
With Paul Heckingbottom coming under increasing pressure from the Leeds supporters, he will be hoping that he can get through the final day of the Championship season unscathed – and that may perhaps tempt the Whites head coach to play things fairly safe with his team selection.
Throwing some of the youngsters in is unlikely to attract criticism no matter how disappointing the result, but he is arguably asking for trouble if some of the senior players who have simply not been good enough throughout the season get another chance when Queens Park Rangers visit Elland Road.
One of the players who may come into that category is Matthew Pennington, whose loan deal with the Whites expires after Sunday’s clash. The 23-year-old has struggled with form and fitness throughout his time with the club and there may not be too many supporters who would suggest that trying to sign him permanently from Everton is a good idea.
Nevertheless, the Yorkshire Evening Post recently reported that Leeds were hoping to hold talks with the Toffees about keeping him and had already made contact with his parent club – and that desire to keep Pennington should tempt Heckingbottom to take a gamble and use him at centre-back this weekend.
Pennington has done well at right-back in the last two games, but with Luke Ayling, Gaetano Berardi and Lewie Coyle on Leeds’ books, and Andy Yiadom also on the transfer radar according to the Yorkshire Evening Post, it will surely be the centre-back pecking order that includes Pennington next season if a permanent deal does take place.
Giving him one final chance at the heart of the defence therefore, seems to make a fair amount of sense as he arguably needs to prove that he is worth pursuing in the summer by putting in an assured display in his preferred role.
There have been some bright moments from Pennington this term – he played well on the opening day, and his brightest display probably came when Leeds thrashed Bristol City 3-0 at Ashton Gate in October – and a superb final day performance, at centre-back, may help convince the supporters that pursuing a permanent deal makes sense as right now, targeting another move seems to be an almost bizarre decision.
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