Two Players Who Leeds United Need To Sell In The Summer
Leeds United find themselves in a grave position of missing out on the playoff spots, after having been a clear favourite to finish in the top six of the EFL Championship this season.
A string of poor results in the past week sees them at 7th place, 3 points off Fulham who occupy the final playoff place, with just 2 more games left to be played. Garry Monk will be extremely disappointed if his side miss out on a top six finish, depriving them of the chance to vie for promotion to the Premier League.
With another season in the second tier of the English football looking all but certain, the Whites will need to start preparing for the next campaign. The transfer window will be extremely crucial in shaping their next campaign, both in terms of players that they bring in and the players to who they show the exit doors. To that end, here are two players that Leeds would be better off selling at the end of the season:
Marcus Antonsson
The 25-year old Swedish striker has struggled to break into the team under Monk having arrived last summer and it looks unlikely that it is going to change next season.
Antonsson has made 21 appearances this season across all competitions, in which he has scored just thrice. His only goal in the Championship came in August last year against Sheffield Wednesday. Only six starts in the Championship this season, with his last appearance for the club in any competition coming in January – against a non-league Sutton United where he again struggled in the FA Cup, tells us how Monk rates him.
Frankly, Antonsson doesn’t seem to be cut out for the English game and doesn’t look like he features in Monk’s plans either. Hence, Leeds will be better off letting him go in the summer.
Giuseppe Bellusci
The 27-year old centre-back joined Leeds back in the summer of 2014 from Italian club Catania but has not managed to endear himself to the Elland Road faithful, thanks to his error-prone nature.
Bellusci does not feature in the scheme of things for Monk and as a result, they shipped him out on loan at the start of the current campaign to Italian side Empoli where he has made 28 Serie A appearances. However, with Pontus Jansson and Kyle Bartley establishing themselves as first-choice centre-back pairing and with Liam Cooper waiting in the ranks, the Italian’s time with the Yorkshire based outfit seems to be nearing an end.
Empoli have an option of making the loan deal a permanent one. Irrespective of whether they convert the deal or not, Leeds will be better served by selling off Bellusci at the end of the season.
Note: Article written before Gameweek 45