Reports in the media are that Leeds are the front-runners for Barnsley captain Andy Yiadom. Alan Nixon, one of the most reliable sources around has tweeted the news in the last few days. The full-back is leaving Barnsley on a free transfer and is seen as a very good bargain at Championship level despite Barnsley struggling this season.
Yiadom, a capped Ghanaian international is one of the gems left after the mass-departure last season. Many think that Barnsley have struggled because the players are all low-budget signings and that is a big factor, but there is a reason that they have been left in this situation. The reds had a very good squad when they came up from League One and almost the entire team have been sold. Angus McDonald, James Bree, Sam Winnall, Conor Hourihane, Josh Scowen and Marc Roberts have all left, as well as Ryan Kent leaving after the loan and that is nearly a full-time of very good Championship players. The club haven’t reinvested and that only leaves a few of the players left from that team, Yiadom is one of them and he’s currently the skipper.
What amazes me about this is the wealth of players Leeds will have at right-back in the summer anyway, without the addition of Yiadom. Luke Ayling is almost back and Lewie Coyle will return to the squad thinking he has a very good chance of breaking into the side. Add that to Gaetano Berardi and the fact that Vurnon Anita is less than a year into his three-year-deal and you see the complication. Is Yiadom better than these options? He’s certainly not as good as Ayling, the rest are maybe debatable but he isn’t improving us massively and that becomes an issue, because we are taking him as a squad player, we need starters. Time will tell, but he must be thinking he’s in with a chance of starting games here if he’s considering the news.
