Leeds attacker Tyler Roberts views himself as a number nine

Add as preferred source on Google

Tyler Roberts has shared that he views his long-term position to be at centre-forward, but he’s happy to use his versatility to help out Leeds United at present and get minutes on the pitch.

The 21-year-old arrived at Elland Road as a young exciting talent from West Brom a couple of years ago and was a highly-rated striker, but his flexibility has seen him play a number or different roles for the Whites.

He’s featured in all five games so far this season across all competitions and manager Marcelo Bielsa has used him alongside central midfielder Mateusz Klich in a deeper role.

His £2.5million signing (BBC) looks like a brilliant piece of business by the Yorkshire giants, but he needs some better luck with injuries and to find more consistency in his game.

Roberts, who is a senior Wales international currently away with his country, has explained that he wants to be a striker for large spells of his career.

“All my life I’ve kind of been a striker and a number nine, but I’ve obviously adapted to playing different situations,” Roberts told BBC Sport.

“I don’t mind playing in a number 10 position, attacking midfield or out wide. Ultimately, over my career, I think I see myself as a number nine but a versatile one.”

TBR’s View:

Roberts is clearly highly thought of by Argentine boss Bielsa and he’s earning regular game-time, but his position is certainly under pressure as new signing Rodrigo begins to really start finding his feet.

It’s a big opportunity for Roberts to try impress on Wednesday night in Wales’ trip to Bulgaria in the Nations League and one area of his game he needs to try improve is his goalscoring.

He has just seven goals in 59 appearances for Leeds and those stats need to be improved if he wants to carry out his ambition to be an out-and-out striker.