As Manor Solomon joined us on a season-long loan from Tottenham Hotspur, the club were quick to justify their approach to the transfer market when they announced the news on the official website.
The statement said "beating off competition from a number of top-flight sides across Europe for his signature, the deliberate strategy of remaining patient in the transfer window has paid dividends, with the club able to act quickly to secure the services of a player who only became available in recent days”.
This is presumably a riposte to those fans who doubted the 49ers after an apparent lack of activity in the transfer market up until a week ago, with more than a few keyboard warriors saying that they might be "asset strippers” after a number of key players left Elland Road for big money.
Solomon can play through the middle or on the wing, so he should be a useful addition to the squad, even though it’s not clear whose place he might take in the current starting eleven. He began with Maccabi Petah Tikva in his native Israel, then continued his tour of the world’s trouble spots with a move to the Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk in 2019.
During his time there they won the Ukrainian Premier League twice, along with the Ukrainian Cup and Ukrainian Super Cup, and he also made 16 appearances in the Champions League. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine Solomon moved Fulham on a season-long loan, and scored one of the Cottagers’ goals when they beat us in the 5th round of the FA Cup that season.
At the start of last season he signed a five-year deal with Spurs, but only to suffer a serious injury at the end of September. The 25-year-old didn’t return until the start of this summer’s pre-season friendlies, and he has now decided to drop down a division in search of first team football as he builds up his fitness. And yes, he did manage to pass his medical before Leeds completed the deal.
He was certainly making all the right noises when he spoke to LUTV. "I am really happy to be here. I've heard a lot about the club, about its fans, about the heritage, the history. I know it's a massive club in England and I'm looking forward to seeing the fans and to meet them all”. (Which might take a while, given the size of our worldwide fanbase).
"I know there is a group of great lads, young people with great desire, with great techniques and I'm looking forward to playing with them and to help them in the best way I can. I just want to get going. I'm ready to go back to the biggest levels again and hopefully we'll have a great season here at Leeds.”
I’m guessing that Solomon will initially be used as a substitute so he can build up his fitness gradually with a few appearances from the bench. But after that we should have an excellent Premier League standard player on our hands, provided he doesn’t get injured again. Sadly this deal doesn’t include any option to convert it into a permanent transfer.
There are likely to be at least two further signings this week, so watch this space…