This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
Eddie Nketiah’s Leeds United career has been a funny one thus far.
Indeed, the Arsenal loanee has been in the headlines more often for off-field reasons rather than what he’s doing on the pitch as it seems that stories about him potentially being recalled are being published on a weekly basis.
This week was no different, but we may finally have some closure on this one as a journalist has stated that the striker’s future is already decided.
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What’s the story?
The Sun’s Alan Nixon wrote a story that went out on Saturday night stating that Nketiah will not be recalled by the London club this January.
This will be a boost to Leeds as the striker has netted at an extraordinary rate this term, scoring every 96.3 minutes for the Whites in the league.
The story also states that Bristol City and some Premier League clubs were looking at hijacking the deal, so it seems as if holding onto the 20-year-old is a bit of a coup for Leeds.
However, keeping the striker at the club may affect Leeds’ January transfer plans in more ways than one.
Effect on January
Of course, the main effect that this will have on Leeds’ January plans is that it means the Whites won’t have to look for a replacement striker.
With Phil Hay recently naming Rhian Brewster and Cenk Tosun as potential targets it would seem that United were prepared for Nketiah to be recalled, but it seems as if neither of those deals will now happen.
However, Nketiah staying also effects the Yorkshire club’s ability to dip into the loan market.
The Athletic’s Leeds United correspondent has previously stated that he expects Jack Clarke to be recalled and if Nketiah also went back to London then Leeds would only have four loan players on their books, meaning that there would be a space in the matchday squad for another loanee.
However, with EFL rules stating that you’re allowed a maximum of five loanees in the matchday squad, it seems unlikely that Leeds would dip into that market in January as their quota will remain full if Nketiah stays on.
In other news, Leeds fans have been raving about one youngster after his performance on Saturday.
