Former Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka has been heavily linked with the Leeds United manager’s job for some time now and the odds are that it will be the Spaniard taking charge at Elland Road next season.
His style of football may well suit the former English champions and, given his standing in the game as a former Premier League manager and assistant at Real Madrid, he is sure to be able to attract some decent players. Leeds badly need new talent in order to take the next step and here we look at two players managed by Karanka that he may be able to persuade to join West Yorkshire.
The Manchester-born midfielder is an underrated player and had a thoroughly decent year in the Premier League. He doesn’t really appear to be on the radar of many top level clubs though and as such, could be ripe for a top Championship side to come in and cherry-pick him.
Clayton already knows the place well having spent two years at Leeds United between 2010 and 2012, making 45 league appearances. He’s matured and progressed since then though and with a pass completion rate of a whopping 87% in the Premier League, he would complement Pablo Hernandez so well in this line-up.
Now that they have joined Leeds in the second tier, Boro can no longer command huge fees for players like Clayton and he could, therefore, fall right into the realistic category for the new Leeds owner.
Another Boro player and fellow countryman of the prospective new boss, Barragan joined the Teessiders in 2016 having spent 5 years on the books at Valencia. Although he is comfortable in the centre of defence or in a holding midfield position, Barragan played most of his Premier League games last season at right-back and would be a step up in terms of quality and experience.
Leeds can have no room for sentiment anymore if they are looking to gain promotion and so they should ruthlessly let go of lesser quality players. Karanka could look to his former ally to add something to the squad if he is going to take over as predicted. Barragan is not massively influential going forward from right-back position but is defensively very solid and that is what Leeds need next season.
Should the new owner be willing to splash the cash, we may see two or three Boro players being poached by Karanka, who knows the recipe for success in this division.
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