Leeds lining up move for “huge talent” with 16 goals

Leeds United maintained their place at the top of the Championship table on Saturday after they were held to a dramatic 3-3 draw away at Hull City.

The Whites had a 3-1 lead in the match heading into the final ten minutes and managed to throw it away, conceding two late on, to come away with just one point.

Daniel Farke’s side are still top of the division but their lead over Sheffield United and Burnley, who both won their respective games, has dropped from three points to one.

The West Yorkshire outfit were heading for all three points after goals from Ao Tanaka, Dan James, and Joel Piroe, and goalkeeper Illan Meslier will not look back fondly on his part in the Hull comeback.

As you can see from the highlights, the Leeds goalkeeper did not cover himself in glory for any of the three goals from the home side and he will need to up his level of performance to ensure that there are no further questions over his position in the team.

Whilst goalkeeping and defensive issues were on display in that draw, Leeds are reportedly in the market to add another attacking option to their squad.

Leeds United interested in Premier League starlet

According to TEAMtalk journalist James Marshment, Leeds United are one of the teams interested in a deal to sign Aston Villa winger Louie Barry.

The reporter claims that the Whites are keeping tabs on his situation after the Premier League team decided to recall the youngster from his loan spell with League One side Stockport County ahead of the January transfer window.

Marshment’s accompanying report from TEAMtalk states that the Championship leaders are keen on a swoop for the forward, with Farke seemingly lining up a move to bring him to Elland Road before the February deadline.

The outlet adds that Villa are planning to send him back out on loan and that there are now a host of teams preparing to battle it out for his signature ahead of the second half of the season.

It reveals that Sheffield United, Middlesbrough, and Sunderland are also interested in signing the 21-year-old dynamo, which means that there is plenty of competition for Leeds to contend with if they want to win the race for his services.

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The Whites will need to convince Barry that a move to Elland Road is the best next step in his development, after his time with Stockport County, and showing him the quality of the players he would have the chance to play with could help their cause, as he could link-up with Joel Piroe in the coming months.

Joel Piroe’s form this season

The Dutch marksman added another goal to his tally in the 3-3 draw with Hull on Saturday, as he scored the third goal of the match for Farke’s side.

Ivor Pandur played a stray pass to Piroe on the edge of the box but the striker still had plenty to do and he drove into the box before firing in a pinpoint effort into the bottom right corner with his left foot.

The left-footed forward lost all nine of his duels and struggled with the physicality of the Hull defenders, but made up for that with his terrific effort to put his team two goals ahead, and it should have been enough to secure all three points.

Piroe has started 16 of the club’s 26 Championship matches so far this season, after Mateo Joseph began the season as the first-choice in the centre-forward role, and has been a fairly reliable performer for the manager at the top end of the pitch.

As you can see in the table above, the former Swansea star has produced an impressive 15 goals and assists in 16 starts for Leeds this season, whilst overperforming his xG by between three and four goals.

These statistics show that Piroe is a forward who is clinical in front of goal and makes the most of the high-quality chances that come his way, whilst also being able to create opportunities for his teammates to find the back of the net.

Why Louie Barry would love Joel Piroe

If Leeds do win the race with Sheffield United, Middlesbrough, and Sunderland to secure the services of Barry on loan for the second half of the season, the Aston Villa winger could love to play alongside the Dutchman for multiple reasons.

Firstly, the 21-year-old flanker created five ‘big chances’ for Stockport in the first half of the season in League One and was only rewarded with two assists, which suggests that he has not been playing with strikers as clinical as Piroe.

Therefore, Barry, who was described as a “huge talent” by pundit Carlton Palmer, could benefit from having a forward like him to make the most of the high-quality chances that he has the quality to create from the left flank, which could improve his assist tally in the second half of the 2024/25 campaign.

As you can see in the clip above, the Aston Villa youngster, formerly of Barcelona, also has the ability to find the back of the net in spectacular fashion, and he has 16 goals in all competitions to further back that up.

The statistics in the table above illustrate his goalscoring quality, albeit at a lower level, after a return of 15 goals from 23 games whilst playing on the left flank.

This suggests that he could also help Piroe to add further assists to his tally because Barry has the ability to pop up with goals on a regular basis, although the forward has yet to prove that he can do it consistently in the Championship.

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Farke must, now, push the board to secure an agreement to bring the 21-year-old star to Elland Road on loan, because him and Piroe could end up being a lethal pairing in the final third.