Champion League
Leeds Could Ruthlessly Ditch Bamford With 6 ft 3 Machine
It’s no secret that signing a brand new striker can be one of many priorities for Leeds United’s subsequent supervisor, whoever that could be.
The Whites, who confirmed a full takeover by the 49ers Enterprises on Friday, have been relegated from the Premier League this previous season for quite a few causes – a scarcity of normal objectives being one in all them.
Certainly, solely Rodrigo Moreno registered more than five goals, with Jack Harrison and Luis Sinisterra subsequent highest with 5 every.
With Patrick Bamford particularly struggling – the out-of-form striker netted just four times in 28 league outings – and query marks over others similar to Crysencio Summerville, Wilfried Gnoto and Joe Gelhardt, Leeds look greatest suited to dipping their toes within the switch market to seek out an satisfactory possibility.
It isn’t in any respect stunning that Leeds have already been linked with quite a few gamers, with Coventry Metropolis’s Viktor Gyokeres amongst them, however there are different – extra inexpensive – choices on the market for the Yorkshire aspect.
A type of choices is said to be Sory Kaba, who whereas not as huge a reputation as some, confirmed final season on mortgage within the Championship with Cardiff Metropolis precisely what he’s all about.
Can Sory Kaba change Patrick Bamford at Leeds United?
Kaba solely arrived at Cardiff on the ultimate day of the January switch window, however he greater than made an affect for the Welsh membership as they only about staved off relegation.
Certainly, have been it not for the Guinea worldwide’s eight goals in 17 league appearances – three goals greater than every other Metropolis performed managed, regardless of solely taking part in half of their video games – it might have been a wholly totally different story.
Cardiff followers are unsurprisingly desperate for Kaba to return to the Welsh capital, however Soccer League World experiences that Leeds are also interested in bringing him in from Danish aspect Midtjylland.
Leeds are reported to have despatched scouts to look at Kaba up shut final season. If that’s the case, they might have witnessed first-hand simply what a presence the 6 ft 3 striker has up high.
As soccer reporter Josh Bunting put it, Kaba “pins defenders in and wins the flick-ons”, whereas offering “one thing totally different” as a quantity 9.
Kaba was not afraid to get pictures away final season, ending the Championship marketing campaign with a median of 2.6 per game, as per WhoScored, which compares to 1.8 for Bamford, albeit in the next division.
Former Elche and Dijon striker Kaba additionally thrives with regards to taking up an opponent, as highlighted by his 1.02 profitable take-ons per 90 throughout the previous yr, as per FBref. For comparability, Bamford managed 0.65.
To additional emphasise Kaba’s presence, he gained a median of 5.67 aerial duels per 90 minutes, whereas Bamford gained simply 2.14.
As former Cardiff boss Steve Morison put it, Kaba was “an ideal addition to their squad”, arguably the distinction between relegation and survival.
In some ways, playing on an alternative choice to Bamford by taking a punt on Kaba – who’s valued as little as £4m by Soccer Observatory – may very well be the distinction between Leeds difficult for promotion or being among the many also-rans subsequent season.
