Leeds United could conclude a deal over the remainder of the summer transfer window that sees Joel Piroe move to Elland Road.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to a report by Planet Swans (via Leeds Live), who suggest that, with Swansea City believed to be keen on a move for Leeds right-back Cody Drameh, Victor Orta could be tempted into offering Russell Martin’s side the 20-year-old full-back on a permanent basis – in a player-plus-cash deal involving Swans centre-forward Joel Piroe.
The report goes on to state that the Championship outfit are willing to cash in on the 23-year-old prior to Thursday’s transfer deadline, while the Dutchman’s goals in the second tier last season said to have attracted the attention of a number of Premier League clubs already this summer.
“Exciting” signing
Considering just how impressive Piroe was throughout his debut campaign in English football last time out, coupled with the signing of a new centre-forward well known to be Orta’s priority over the remainder of the summer transfer window, it is not difficult to understand why the Whites’ director of football would be keen on a move for the 23-year-old in the coming days.
Indeed, over his 45 Championship appearances last season, the £7.2m-rated talent was in remarkable form for Swansea, scoring 22 goals, registering six assists and creating six big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.4 shots – 50% of which hit the target – making 0.6 key passes and completing 0.7 dribbles per game.
These metrics saw the £10k-per-week forward who Martin dubbed both “exciting” and “outstanding” average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 6.99, ranking him as Swansea’s second-best player in the league last time out.
For context, should Piroe have achieved these returns for Leeds last season, he would have ranked as Jesse Marsch’s top goalscorer, top assist provider and second-most frequent big chance creator in the league, while his average match rating would have also ranked the striker as the Whites’ joint-best performing outfielder in the top flight of English football.
The former Netherlands U20 international has also started his 2022/23 campaign like a house on fire, having already scored one goal and averaged a SofaScore match rating of 7.02 over his six Championship appearances this term.
As such, given his evident ability in the final third, his potential for future development and – considering his age – his likely willingness to play second fiddle to first-choice number nine Patrick Bamford, the argument that Piroe would make something of perfect – not to mention exciting – addition to Marsch’s squad is an extremely easy one to make.