According to Football Insider, Leeds United are looking into the prospect of signing Nathan Ferguson from West Brom.
The Whites have apparently begun building a dossier around the Baggies full-back.
While Ferguson has impressed this term, with Slaven Bilic stating that he has an extremely bright future, it’s up for debate as to whether or not this would be a good signing for Leeds.
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The Whites may lack depth in some areas of their squad, but they’re absolutely stacked at full-back.
The 19-year-old can play on either the right of the left, but he’d have to compete with seasoned Championship veterans such as Ezgjan Alioski, Barry Douglas, Stuart Dallas and Luke Ayling in order to get a spot.
There are positives and negatives in this move for Leeds, and our writers gave their opinion on whether or not it’d be a good move.
Billy Meyers
“Despite the fact that Leeds already have a fair few full-backs, Nathan Ferguson is an exciting prospect who Marcelo Bielsa should not pass up the opportunity to sign.
“The West Brom wonderkid can play in both full-back positions – something that could prove invaluable over the course of a season with injuries and what not – while his value will presumably soar year-by-year seeing as he is a young English talent.
“It is telling that Tottenham are interested in Ferguson as well, with another Premier League side in Crystal Palace also keeping tabs on the youngster, so if there is even a glimmer of a chance for Leeds to get him, then they should jump at it.”
Lewis Blain
“Nathan Ferguson has been nothing short of a revelation for Slaven Bilic and West Brom this season. The Croatian took a gamble on promoting him in pre-season and it’s paid off – in more ways than you may think too.
“For the U23s, he was primarily a centre-back, but he began his senior Baggies career on the right-hand side of the defence, picking up the Man of the Match award in front of the Sky Sports cameras against Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest. That was merely a sign of what was to come.
“He has since filled in at left-back in Kieran Gibbs’ absence and has done well enough to keep the former Arsenal man out of the starting XI entirely. It is this sort of versatility that would make him an incredible signing for any team, Leeds included.
“Given he has been linked to a few European giants in Atletico Madrid and Juventus this week, I can’t see him swapping the Hawthorns for Yorkshire any time soon, if ever. It is also reported that he will sign an extension at Albion, so that would put pay to any form of exit in the foreseeable future.”
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Vijievan Jeevathayalan
“At just 19-years-old, Nathan Ferguson has the world at his feet at the moment. A full-back flying high at West Brom this season, Leeds would do well to poach him away from their Championship rivals.
“The teenager is in the mould of Manchester United’s £50m man Aaron Wan-Bissaka, in that he is incredibly strong defensively – this campaign, he has averaged 2.6 tackles and 1.2 interceptions per game.
“Whilst Marcelo Bielsa’s side may be well-stocked in his position, getting a promising prospect with the best years ahead of him seems like shrewd business. Getting Ferguson on the cheap – his contract expires at the end of the season – would be a major coup for a team looking to get back to the big-time.”
Charles Jones
“Nathan Ferguson would be a fantastic addition to any squad in the Championship, and the fact that teams such as Juventus and Atletico Madrid have looked at him tells you everything you need to know about the full-back.
“However, unfortunately, I think that Ferguson is a case of the right player at the wrong time.
“Leeds already have enough good full-backs to see them through this term, and despite the fact that Ferguson is out of contract this summer he will still cost quite a lot.
“The Baggies are also pushing for promotion so they won’t want to let him go cheaply, and if United signed him on a pre-contract they would still have to pay compensation, and with Fulham demanding £7m for Harvey Elliott after he joined Liverpool, the Whites could end up forking out millions of pounds for the youngster.
“Those funds would be better invested in other areas of Marcelo Bielsa’s squad, so I’d have to say that this isn’t the correct move for Leeds right now.”
