It was confirmed today that Glen Kamara is moving to French side Stade Rennais, but his place in the midfield department of the squad has already been taken by the loan signing of Joe Rothwell from AFC Bournemouth.
Kamara made 42 appearances for Leeds during the single season he was with us, but never really won the fans over. He was a solid enough performer, but lacked the ability to play a killer pass. Some fans on social media have criticised him for being reluctant to shoot, but having seen the quality of the few shots he did try, that can only have been a good thing.
So it might be a bit of a surprise that he was of interest to a side who finished 10th. in France’s top division last season, and still more that they agreed to pay a reported €10 million for his services. Google tells me that’s about £8.4m at today’s exchange rate, a tidy profit on the £5million we paid Rangers a year ago.
If that fee is correct, it certainly made sense for Leeds to take the money to help with the good old FFP calculations, while signing a loan player instead. On the face of it Joe Rothwell is a fairly underwhelming signing, but he does offer us something slightly different to Kamara. With Gruev and possibly Ampadu (if not required in defence) to provide the ballast in midfield, Rothwell has more of the creativity we sorely lacked last season.
We need someone who can play a killer pass through a tight defence and give us at least the threat of a goal from midfield. That said, he only scored four of them in the 20 games he played on loan at Southampton last season, but when they arrived they were spectacular. He started a lot of games on the bench and only tended to be brought on when the Saints were chasing the game, which explains why he was an unused substitute in the play-off final.
And the same might be in store for him at Leeds, as he might not be in the first choice eleven when all players are available, but we all know Daniel Farke likes to throw plenty of attacking players on when we need a goal. And at 29 he will bring the experience that our manager felt we lacked during the difficult times last season.
And to help make up the numbers in midfield, Charlie Crew has signed a professional contract, having celebrated his 18th birthday last month. He is yet another Welsh international, having made his debut for his country in the recent friendly against Gibraltar, and although he is yet to do likewise for the Leeds first team, he was included in several matchday squads last season.
He was sounding chipper as he spoke to the club’s official website. "I think since coming in [to Leeds] I have only gone upwards and only moved forward. That is down to the coaches I have worked with and all the players. I definitely think I have moved forward, and I am looking ahead to this season because I think I can push on even more”.
"The club is unbelievable at producing players as you have seen. It is now about following in their footsteps really and getting a taste for first team football, showing the manager that he can trust me, moving forward and working hard. I really want to push on and try and get in and around the matchday squads, and hopefully play in front of the fans at Elland Road.”
Effectively young Charlie could be regarded as Archie Gray’s replacement, so hopefully he will get the game time he needs to develop, and that we won’t have to end up selling him a year or two down the line to make ends meet, like we have had to do with too many of our best young players in the last few years.