Leeds United had a great transfer window this summer and while their near-£100m outlay saw them add a plethora of new talent to their ranks, it shouldn’t be forgotten that they missed out on their number one target.
Indeed, Ben White isn’t a Leeds player after a summer-long transfer pursuit, and it seems as though they may never land him.
The centre-back, rated at £13.5m by Transfermarkt, has predictably taken to the Premier League like a duck to water after a somewhat shaky start in his first two games.
White has really come into his own in recent weeks, and his performance against West Brom over the weekend showed that perfectly.
The Seagulls star was brilliant against the Baggies, making four tackles and three interceptions, while his ball-playing abilities were abundantly evident as he completed two dribbles and had a pass accuracy of 91.7%.
One of the main things White was criticised for last season was his lack of aerial presence, with Noel Whelan saying:
“He is not as dominant in the air as centre-backs like Harry Maguire and Pontus Jansson. But he is better on the ball than Jansson and just as good as Maguire.”
However, he’s seemingly improved on that this term as well, winning five aerial duels against Crystal Palace last weekend.
Leeds may have landed Robin Koch and Diego Llorente at centre-back, but they should still be kicking themselves over the fact that White didn’t come through the door.
He was so highly rated at Leeds and it was easy to see that he was a ready-made Premier League star, with Whelan often waxing lyrical about him.
“Ben White ticks every box,” Whelan told Football Insider. “He is a brilliant defender who’s only going to get better in the years ahead. He does everything really well – mobile, athletic, great distribution, confident on the ball, makes good decisions, his positioning is good.”
The fact that he’s been touted as a potential Virgil van Dijk replacement at Liverpool tells you all you need to know about him, he’s a top-quality defender and at the age of 23, he still has room to improve.
Leeds may forever regret not breaking the bank to sign him.