Late move could see Leeds sign Summerville’s dream partner.
Leeds United will hope that their perfect start to 2024 in the Championship allows them to stay pace with the division’s automatic promotion slots. Daniel Farke’s Whites have won three games in a row, including a dramatic 2-1 triumph over Preston North End in their most recent meeting.
The victory was accomplished without star player Crysencio Summerville scoring, but his partner on the right-hand flank Daniel James equalised, with impact substitute Joel Piroe winning the tense game from the penalty spot right at the finish.
Farke will be thrilled with his team’s grit in digging deep and winning at the death, but the German boss in the Elland Road dugout will still want to bolster his squad with new arrivals in January.
Leeds are undoubtedly aiming to improve their left-back position this month, despite the fact that a revitalized Junior Firpo is now enjoying his time in that position.
Leeds is looking for a new left-back.
Last week, Football Insider reported that Leeds are interested in signing Luton Town’s Ryan Giles, a 23-year-old who has played left-back and left-midfield for the newly promoted Premier League Hatters this season.
Leeds are now looking to sign Giles on a loan deal to give depth to their left-hand side after he struggled to adjust to his new surroundings at Kenilworth Road this season.
However, according to TEAMtalk, Hull City are in the driver’s seat to sign Giles over the Whites, with the Championship promotion hopefuls potentially losing out to the Tigers again in a transfer battle, after Liam Rosenior’s side beat Leeds to the post to sign Fabio Carvalho earlier in the transfer window.
Despite the fact that the former Wolverhampton Wanderers player is now suffering in the Premier League, the current Luton number 26 would be a valuable addition to the Leeds squad based on his prior second-tier numbers.
How Giles fits in the Leeds team.
Giles had 12 assists in all competitions for Middlesbrough during his final full season in the Championship under Michael Carrick.
Before this breakthrough season, Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray described Giles as a “fantastic talent” when the wide full-back was loaned to the Riversiders to cut his teeth.
If Giles can duplicate his Boro form at Elland Road, Summerville might become an even more dangerous threat for Championship defenders to deal with.
The Luton man averaging 5.37 progressive passes received over the last year on average per 90 minutes – bettering Firpo’s lower 2.16 by some way – Giles would just give the Whites so much more going forward and might maybe connect up with Summerville in deadly form.
Furthermore, Giles could easily slot into the side and fill the role that Firpo excelled in against Preston.
The slaloming 23-year-old transformed formerly goal-shy Chuba Akpom into a lethal machine in front of goal with cross after cross into the area at the Riverside Stadium during the 2022/23 season, with Akpom scoring 28 goals in the same season Giles became Boro assist king.
Farke will look to beat the Tigers to the £35k per week man’s signature to add an aggressive and forward-thinking full-back to his ranks this January, after he showed glimpses of his quality for Luton last month against Sheffield United, winning 100% of his duels and making a key pass in the 3-2 win.
As a result, Leeds might rack up even more wins and demonstrate their commitment to promotion.
