Leeds should aim for better than Matty Pennington return as desperation shows

Add as preferred source on Google

Leeds fans produced a mixed reaction as reports emerged linking them with a former player as sources claimed that Everton defender Matthew Pennington could return to Elland Road after a mixed loan spell at the club last season.

The Liverpool Echo claim that Leeds and Wigan Athletic are both interested in the 23-year-old, who signed a new contract in the summer after returning to Goodison Park from Yorkshire.

Yet if the Whites are to be aiming for success this season, they must be aiming for a higher calibre of player than Pennington. Signing him, particularly so late on in the transfer window, merely reflects the club’s increasing desperation in the market as the start of the season and closing of the transfer window edges closer.

Across the full season in 2017/18, Pennington started just 15 out of 46 games, never keeping his sport for more than four games in a row. Such struggles for game time in a struggling team hardly suggest that he is the kind of quality that the club should be aspiring for as they look to climb up the table.

Sure, Pennington has youth on his side but he will turn 24 in October and is unlikely to develop significantly more in the next season. Given his poor form in pre-season for Everton, there is even less reason to be hopeful.

With Kalvin Phillips having impressed as a makeshift central defender against Las Palmas, some fans may even be tempted to suggest that he would be a better option than scraping around the market for a player who couldn’t get into the team last season.

In his favour, his habit of bringing the ball out may work well under Marcelo Bielsa, but there is little reason to believe that he is what the club needs to improve their league standing in 2018/19.

If he does join, it will be reflective of the frustration Leeds have faced in the transfer market this summer. If he doesn’t, fans may have even more to fear for the alternatives.