The news that all Leeds United supporters had been dreading was finally announced yesterday as star striker Chris Wood sealed a move to Premier League side Burnley for a fee of around £15 million. Speculation had grown rapidly in the last week and was further heightened when the striker was left out of Thomas Christiansen’s squad for the trip to Sunderland at the weekend.
The 25-year-old forward was one of Leeds’ key players last season, and everyone connected with the club would have been hoping that he stayed at the club for at least one more year to try and gain that long awaited promotion back to the top flight of English football. However, that has proved not to be the case, and it will now be interesting to see how the striker fares in the big time under the management of Sean Dyche.
We take a look at the reasons why Leeds might regret selling their main man if they do not achieve promotion come next May.
Goalscorers at this level are invaluable
It felt like the striker’s move to Burnley grew inevitable with every passing day, mainly due to the amount of power that players have in regards to their future in the modern game. There are still many other players in stressful situations across football such as Diego Costa, Alexis Sanchez and Philippe Coutinho whose futures remain up in the air with very little of the transfer window remaining.
Wood may well have wanted to move on which makes it very difficult for the club to stand in his way. However, you would think that a club like Leeds who have aspirations for promotion this season, would have done more to try and keep their main man at the club. The forward found the back of the net 27 times last season and really made a difference to Garry Monk’s side as they agonisingly missed out on a place in the playoffs.
There is no doubt that Christiansen has made many impressive signings this summer including the likes of Samu Saiz and Ezgjan Alioski among others but none of these players possess Woods’ goalscoring instinct, and he will subsequently be sorely missed. Goalscorers such as Wood are very hard to come by, especially at this level, and that is why they are valued so highly.
Rudy Gestede a potential replacement?
It remains to be seen how much of the £15 million received for Wood will be allocated to Christiansen by the club’s hierarchy for a replacement, but you would suspect a hefty sum would be made available if they have serious aspirations for promotion. One player that the club have already been linked with is Middlesbrough striker Rudy Gestede.
Leeds have reportedly had a bid of £5.5 million turned down by the Teeside club for the forward. However, it looks highly unlikely that Leeds will ever be able to land a deal for a striker that has regularly featured in Boro’s starting line-up under Monk so far this season. He has formed a good partnership with Britt Assombalonga and all the signals coming out of Boro so far is that they are not willing to sell. This just goes to show how difficult it may be for Leeds to sign a replacement for Wood before the transfer window slams shut.
How are Leeds ‘making a big mistake?’. Wood wanted more money and wanted to leave. He’s had an attack of ‘I’m a big shot’, that has happened to some of our players: Snodgrass, Becchio, Beckford and McCormack. Where are they now? Arguably, Wood isn’t as good as most of these. He’s a tap in merchant and the PL isn’t the place for those players, you need to make a few goals yourself. After seeing Wood’s debut, the barn door is still intact; but it does emphasise his limitations: a shot from 6 yards, saved, a one-on-one- saved and a hopelessly wide shot from distance. Not only are the defenders better in the PL, but so are the keepers. I’d say he will be doing well to score 8-10 goals this season and that’s not worth £15M. We now have a culture of spolied brats! Bridcutt, too proud to play for his place, when quite rightly dropped for poor performances and Wood, who’s ambition seemingly ends at a lower end PL team, with worse attendances, worse ground and training facilities and less potential than Leeds, because they offered him more money. Burnley will not win anything, never have and they will be fighting relegation all season. If they get relegated, what has he achieved? The team plays differently now, no longer dependent on Wood and one wonders whether he would have made the same impact again this season, when we have goals throughout the team. Are Burnley taking a huge gamble on a player who has had one good season? Wood is not worth £15M and it may cost them dear.
can only describe this article as utter crap
Sam Straw has obviously never seen Wood play; one of the luckiest strikers to get that many goals with many being shinners, scuffs and mishits alongside penalties, admittedly some good headers and one or two decent strikes, needs 5 decent opportunites to get a goal! Wish him all the best in the prem but this was a fluke season and would have sold him for 10m let alone 15m. We now already play with more flair and a complete team approach instead of relying on a single striker with an average first touch.
Hi Matt,
I appreciate your opinion on Wood but surely the best strikers always get themselves into the positions to score those type of goals? Some of the best strikers throughout history scored majority of their goals from close range etc. £15 million is a very good price though and I’m sure Leeds will still challenge for play-offs if they can find a replacement.
Thomas Christiansen did not leave Chris Wood out of the squad he travelled to Sunderland and put out a statement saying he was not going to play
The way in which Leeds United play under TC does not fully suit Chris Wood in 2 recent games he has had 2 one on ones with the Goal Keeper and Missed the target
So if Chris Wood had stayed at Leeds who knows how many he would have scored but 27 I don’t think them heights would have been reached again with the new Leeds style
15 million to a possible 18 million that is good business done by Leeds United the squad can be further strengthened ultimately defenders and strikers so far the new structure has yielded some great talent Allioski Siaz look to have the making of something very special
So why have Leeds made a big mistake selling Chris Wood?
Goals: 7
Conceded:O
Strong start and still unbeaten. ? #LUFC
Pathetic article, Wood refused a new contract and wanted to go. So we had to sell him. Leeds did not want to sell him!!! Life goes on, try writing something better.
When a player refuses to play, you’ve no choice, he has to go. He didn’t want to be here, he didn’t want to play for us and so he turned into a dead-weight. No loyalty to the club which made him, no regard for the fact that he was still under contract, no thought to repay the club for our confidence in him, just a money-grabbing b*stard. Goodbye tosser.
Lazy journalism. Leeds tried to agree a new deal, including get out clauses if they didn’t return to the Premiership. However he still wanted to leave. Any team would want to keep Wood. However we got a fair price that has been promised to fund a replacement. As for still scoring without him, Roofs and Saiz have a few already,
Hi Jonathan,
Do you feel that the likes of Roofe and Saiz can make up for the goals that will be lost by Wood’s departure? 27 goals from one player is a lot at this level. This strikes me as a similar situation to when Assombalonga recently left Forest for Boro. Main difference is that Leeds have sold Wood to a Premier League side which arguably makes it a much better deal.
this is a rubbish piece wood restricted our style and movement
since he’s left the building we are faster cleverer and score more goals
burnley big mistake you will find out that he’s not as good as sam vokes
relegation looms
mot
Hi Paul,
Interesting opinion about Leeds’ overall play being better without Wood. Do you think that the likes of Saiz and Roofe can make up for Wood’s goals over the season? He scored 27 goals last season and those are big boots to fill.