Leeds United have been handed a boost in their bid to bring Jesús Vázquez to Elland Road in the January transfer window.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to a report by Spanish publication El Desmarque, who claim that, with Victor Orta targeting the signing of a young left-back, the director of football’s chances of landing the Valencia CF starlet this winter could be improving, with the LaLiga side believed to willing to sanction the 19-year-old’s departure on loan in January.
The report goes on to state that, should the Spain U19 international have not played a set amount of first-team minutes under Gennaro Gattuso at the Estadio de Mestalla prior to the turn of the year, the defender possesses a clause in his contract which would allow him to leave Valencia on a temporary basis in the upcoming winter window.
Finally, it is claimed that talks between the player and his club regarding his immediate future are planned in the coming weeks, and with Vázquez insisting he ‘wants to be a protagonist’ now, coupled with Gattuso possessing the options of José Gayà and Toni Lato at left-back, it is believed a loan move in January could be a solution that suits all parties.
Finally ditch Firpo
While it would appear likely that Orta would prefer to secure the services of a new left-back on a permanent rather than a temporary basis in the January transfer window, there is an argument to be made that the signing of Vázquez on loan this winter could still be extremely beneficial for Jesse Marsch’s side heading into the second half of the Premier League season.
First of all, it is evident that the £8.7m-rated talent is an extremely “exciting prospect” – in the words of talent scout Jacek Kulig – something the teenager demonstrated during Valencia’s 2021/22 LaLiga campaign.
Indeed, over his 15 league appearances last time out, the 19-year-old was in impressive defensive form, helping his side keep two clean sheets, in addition to making an average of 1.6 tackles, 0.6 interceptions, 0.9 clearances and winning 4.6 duels – at a success rate of 52% – per game.
The left-back also caught the eye going forwards, taking an average of 0.3 shots, making 0.4 key passes and completing a remarkable 1.7 dribbles per match – with the £8.1k-per-week gem ranking in the top 1% of full-backs in Europe’s big five leagues for dribbles completed over the last 365 days.
Secondly, loan deals are a surefire way to ensure that a new player suits the style of play and values of his prospective new club – something that would have saved Leeds a considerable amount of money should they have brought the last left-back they signed, Junior Firpo, to the club on a temporary basis before spending £13m on his signing back in the summer of 2021.
Indeed, the former Spain U21 international has endured a torrid career with the Whites thus far, having already missed 26 fixtures as a result of injury, as well as averaging extremely disappointing Sofascore match ratings of just 6.60 in 2021/22 and 6.30 in 2022/23 – ranking him as Leeds’ seventh-worst and worst performer in each respective league campaign.
So, while it would appear on paper as if Vázquez would represent an upgrade on the 26-year-old, bringing the youngster to the club on a temporary basis would allow Marsch and Orta to fully determine whether or not the full-back would indeed be a worthwhile permanent signing at the end of the season.
And, should Vázquez impress during his loan spell at Elland Road, this is exactly the procedure the club could follow next summer, with Orta then possessing evidence that the young Spaniard would be worthy of splashing a considerable transfer fee on – before he would subsequently replace the £42k-per-week Firpo in Marsch’s starting XI for the 2023/24 campaign.