Leeds United lost one of their most important players to Brentford recently as Pontus Jansson was sold after spending two years with the club.
The Swede impressed in the 2018-19 season, which led to a place in the Championship Team of the Year. With Jansson sold, the Whites will have to sign a replacement as they are short of numbers in central defence.
The Championship side are reportedly interested in signing Aston Villa’s James Chester, who may find it tough to find a first-team spot in the Villa team next season as manager Dean Smith has signed four centre-backs ahead of the 2019-20 season.
Daily Star have reported that Leeds could make a move for the experienced centre-back, who came through the ranks at Manchester United.
Chester joined the club from West Bromwich Albion in 2016 for around £8 million, and has gone on to make 124 appearances for the side in all competitions.
The Welsh international could find it difficult to get into the Aston Villa first-team following the signing of center backs Björn Engels, Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa, and Kortney Hause.
The 30-year-old missed nearly 20 games last season following a knee injury, and ended the season with 28 appearances and 5 goals.
Tough to sign Chester, but he would be the ideal replacement for Jansson
Chester could be a very good replacement for Jansson. The centre-back is an experienced player who has experience in the Premier League and the Championship, having been part of the Hull City and West Brom teams in the Premier League.
A ball-playing centre-back, Chester is a good passer of the ball, keeps the ball ticking, and also drives forward with the ball. He is a leader at the back and is a dependable figure at the back.
A defender who likes to put his body on the line, Chester made an average of 6.4 clearances in the 2018-19 season for Aston Villa, while completing 87% of his passes and averaging 44.6 per game last season.
Leeds United could do with an experienced defender like Chester, whose ball-playing ability and aggression will suit Marcelo Bielsa’s style of play as well.
The Whites desperately need another centre-back as Bielsa’s options currently are Liam Cooper and Gaetano Berardi, while loan signing Ben White isn’t very experienced. However, it’s hard to see why Chester, who has the opportunity to play in the Premier League with Villa, would move to Leeds United.
Leeds are not signing a replacement for Jansson. Apart from s goalkeeper there will be no more first team signings. Expect more under 23 and under 18 players with view to making s bit of money in future. Radrizzani has bought in over 20million in sales this summer and massively reduced the wage bill. He has no intention of spending any of that cash. Roofe will be gone but apparently they aren’t looking to offload him until the end of the transfer window. Also Radrizzani and Phillips are miles apart on what they feel he should be earning so expect him to go for around 20million. Sources close to the club have said Bielsa is losing patience with the board and their broken promises. Lastly there was a big deal made about Costa signing with the deal supposed to become permanent next summer. What they didn’t say was , it only becomes permanent if Leeds are promoted. Which will never happen with a paper thin squad and no real investment!!