Cameron Brannagan may have caught Leeds’s eye in 2018 friendly

Add as preferred source on Google

If Leeds United go on to realise the potential that many believe they have under Marcelo Bielsa, Oxford United can probably expect to find themselves coming up in plenty of pub quiz questions concerning the Whites.

Leeds have not faced the League One side in a competitive game since 2012. But the U’s do have the honour of being the first team to beat the Whites following Bielsa’s appointment, with Leeds losing 4-3 in an incredible game at the Kassam Stadium in July 2018.

The pre-season friendly saw Leeds go 3-0 and 4-1 down, before nearly producing a superb comeback.

From a Leeds perspective, the game is likely to be remembered as the contest that saw Tyler Roberts score an outstanding goal early in the second-half. Roberts had not made his competitive debut for Leeds before the summer due to injury. But his superb solo strike highlighted why the Whites had brought him to Elland Road in the first place.

But in light of recent transfer reports, perhaps it is not out of the question for the game to have stuck in the minds of Bielsa and Victor Orta for another reason.

Leeds come up against midfielder who’s now on Whites radar

Leeds named one of their weaker starting lineups of that summer for that game. But the side did include Ronaldo Vieira and Mateusz Klich, with the latter still working his way into Bielsa’s plans.

Overall, Klich enjoyed an excellent pre-season. Questions were being asked about his future before the summer began. But he did enough in pre-season to secure a spot in the side that blew Stoke City away on the opening day of the Championship campaign.

However, the trip to Oxford did not go to plan. And one of the players who inspired the home side’s superb performance that night was Cameron Brannagan.

Brannagan pulled the strings in the midfield for much of the game, particularly during the first-half.

And now 18 months later, The Telegraph reports that Leeds want the 23-year-old this month.

In truth, Brannagan’s form this season will obviously be the main factor behind the Whites’ interest. He has scored seven goals in all competitions this term, while he has contributed five assists in the league.

But perhaps that performance in 2018 did alert the likes of Bielsa and Orta to Brannagan’s ability.

The Yorkshire Evening Post reported that Orta started to look at Ben White after the centre-back faced Leeds during a loan spell at Newport County. But it would be another season before White made the move to Elland Road.

It will be interesting to see whether Leeds’s reported interest in Brannagan began in a similar way with the youngster previously helping a side to a victory over the Whites.