Why Pierre-Michel Lasogga Would Be A Shrewd Signing For Leeds United
Leeds United manager Thomas Christiansen appears to be closing in on a deal for Hamburg’s striker Pierre-Michel Lasogga.
Given their overreliance on front man Chris Wood last season, the boss wants to add more quality to the squad as genuine competition to the Kiwi.
Burnley, having sold Andre Gray to Watford, have already had an official bid of £12million for Wood turned down, and are looking to bid £20million to get the New Zealand international. Irrespective of whether Wood leaves the club or not, Leeds boss Christiansen would know that Lasogga is a must for the Whites.
For whatever unknown reason, Lasogga is out of favour currently at Hamburg and is definitely available for transfer, with Leeds’ Danish boss looking to solve the problem his club have – being short of strikers.
Lasogga did not take part in Hamburg’s Pokal defeat to Osnabruck on Sunday, after being emitted from the squad altogether, putting him behind Bobby Wood, Andre Hahn and Luca Waldschmidt at the club to name but three. Leeds are looking to solve that problem for him by taking him on loan for the season, in a deal which will have an option to buy, for a low price next summer.
That deal though doesn’t seem so attractive to Hamburg who can get bigger money for him right now and get him off their backs for good. As long as there is Premier League interest, the player himself would probably not consider the Championship, especially without a guaranteed start in the XI.
For their part though Leeds could really do with a guy like this to back up Wood. Between New Year and early March, Wood bagged 11 league goals in 11 games. During that time, Leeds won 7 and drew 1 of their 11 games accumulating 22 points (2 points per game). After that, Wood scored 3 goals in 8 games, a period which saw Leeds win 2 and draw 2, accruing just 8 points, which is 1 per game.
Despite claims from many fans that Leeds do not rely on Wood, pointing to times last season when Wood has not played and the team have still won, the real evidence doesn’t support this at all. Wood is by far and away Leeds’ best player, or at least their most effective, and without him they will struggle.
So Lasogga becomes a must and Leeds should do everything within their powers to get him to the club.