When Leeds United signed Modou Barrow on loan from Swansea City in January, it was regarded as a shrewd addition by manager Garry Monk.
The 24-year arrived after having made 19 appearances for the Swans across all competitions, in which he had contributed with just 2 assists. Those are not very good numbers. But Monk knew the player well and trusted in his abilities, having signed him for Swansea back in 2014, when he was the manager.
When Barrow’s signature was sealed by Leeds, after new Swansea manager Paul Clement deemed him surplus to requirements, there was a certain level of positivity around the Elland Road upon his arrival.
However, things have hardly gone according to plans for Barrow and Leeds. The 24-year old Gambian international has made just 4 appearances for the Whites after his arrival. All of those appearances have been from the bench, totalling to just 84 minutes. This indicates how hard it has been for him to break into the playing XI at Elland Road.
He hasn’t scored a single goal in these 4 matches and neither has he set one up for his teammates. All that the 24-year old managed to do in his 4 appearances was pick up a yellow card.
Barrow is someone with close to three years of experience in the Premier League and was expected to make an immediate impact upon his arrival at the Yorkshire-based club. But, the Swansea City loanee has struggled.
The fact that another January loan signing, 20-year old Alfonso Pedraza Sag has managed to outshine Barrow in his brief spell at Elland Road helps us put things into perspective. The Spaniard arrived on a temporary deal from La Liga side Villarreal and has hit the ground running right away.
Having made the jump from Spanish second division, with no experience in English football, Pedraza has managed to make an impact after arriving. He has so far made 6 appearances for Leeds in the Championship and has also opened his goal-scoring account. With his flair and attacking verve, he has managed to carve out a place in Monk’s starting XI on a regular basis in recent weeks.
Looking at things as they currently are, it is easy to see that Barrow has failed to have the desired impact that Monk would have hoped for. They are still well-placed at 4th spot and look set for a play-off battle at the end of the season.
Barrow hasn’t made any sort of contribution towards Leeds’ promotion fight in his short tenure with the club and it would be foolish for Leeds to consider signing him on a permanent deal ahead of the next season. Considering that the 24-year old has a release clause of £15 million in his contract with Swansea, it would be a huge risk to sign the player permanently. This amount of money, without a doubt, would be well spent if they sign someone better than Barrow.