Leeds CEO Angus Kinnear has confirmed the club intends to continue targeting young players and also warned supporters they could miss out on key targets due to the risky nature of their recruitment strategy. The Whites are showing total commitment to their scouting network as they continue to explore the market for opportunities having recently paid a club-record £35million fee for Hoffenheim frontman Georginio Rutter.
The Frenchman followed Max Wober through the door and with Leeds now showing more faith than ever in raw talent – there is a sense the future is bright at Elland Road.
Kinnear said of Jesse Marsch’s new forward and the next phase of Leeds’ plan: “Georginio is a player that we have believed for some time has immense potential and while his availability in January came as a surprise, we were quick to act,” said the chief executive.
“Our strategy of trying to secure players early in steep development trajectories means we only have two short windows where Leeds United is a viable option.
“This ambition inevitably means we will frequently miss out on targets, but the upside is, when we are successful, that we secure talent that can materially help the club move to the next level.”
While Leeds are always keeping an eye on openings to improve their squad, the focus will now switch to loaning out some of the club’s youngsters.
Joe Gelhardt looks set to head to the Championship on loan with Wigan Athletic, Blackburn Rovers, Coventry City and Swansea City among those keen.
He had looked poised to rejoin former club Wigan in the past few days but the deal is yet to have been completed.
“Rutter’s arrival will mean that we will be looking to make some outbound loans before the end of the transfer window,” said Kinnear.
“We believe that being more active in loaning out our emerging talent will be important in ultimately accelerating their ability to contribute to our first team.”
The idea behind Kinnear’s strategy is that Leeds might be able to one day unearth a player of Harry Kane’s quality.
He continued: “Harry Kane had four different loan spells before he became England’s best striker and Championship experience is a significant step up from competing in Premier League 2.”
Leeds are currently 15th in the Premier League table but they are slowly edging closer to the drop zone having not won in the top-flight since beating Bournemouth 4-3 on November 5.
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