Crouch has barely featured under Mark Hughes for Stoke but his aerial threat could make the difference at Elland Road.
You would be hard pressed to find a Leeds United in too bad a mood this cold December day after a superb win against promotion chasing Reading. After all, their beloved Whites are in the play-off places for the first time in three years with Garry Monk definitively proving that he is one of the brightest young minds in the game, dragging a club far too used to mediocrity dangerously close to actual, palpable success.
Leeds are currently sixth and in with a credible shout of reaching the Championship play-offs for the first time in over a decade.
Yet, an injury to talismanic goalscorer Chris Wood, contributing almost half of Leeds’ league strikes this season, threatens to destabalise any potential return to the Promised Land.
Furthermore, the New Zealand international has netted 11 times in 21 appearances this season but, although he is enjoying his most consistent season in years, history suggests a prolonged goal drought is never too far away. And, beyond Wood, no other player has netted more than three.
Therefore, former Leeds midfielder Andy Couzens suggestion that his old club take a punt on out-of-favour Stoke City striker Peter Crouch seems fairly waterproof.
“I’d like to see a Peter Crouch come in at Christmas to be perfectly honest, somebody like him who’s been there, done it, and is going to score you goals without a shadow of a doubt in that league,” Couzens told The 72 Show podcast last month.
He may be 35, he may be without a league goal since May 2015, but Crouch to Leeds suits all parties. Stoke clearly do not need him. You do not give a striker just 196 minutes of top flight action if he is part of your plans long term.
And in Leeds he would be joining a side who average just 19 aerial duel victories per game, one of the lowest in the second tier. We do not need to remind you that Crouch is 6ft 7ins.
Furthermore, the more impressive Leeds become, the more teams will be content to sit off them towards the business end of the season. The addition of one of the most prolific target men of his generation would give Monk a viable Plan B in attack.
And although his advancing years headline any concerns, surely the experience a 35-year-old who has dealt with the pressure of international tournaments, cup finals and the Champions League would be invaluable if one of the youngest squads in the league is exposed to the emotional mill of the play-offs.
According to The Express, Leeds made enquiries about Crouch’s availability in January last year.
Out of all the horrendous decisions made at the football club in recent seasons, signing Crouch would not be one of them.
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