The Chalkboard: Leeds signing Fernando Llorente would give Bielsa lots of headaches
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According to reports in The Sun, Leeds United are lining up an ambitious January swoop for out-of-favour Tottenham Hotspur striker Fernando Llorente.
The Yorkshire outfit came into the campaign with Kemar Roofe, Patrick Bamford and Tyler Roberts as their centre-forward options, but all three players have suffered injury issues to leave Marcelo Bielsa with little depth up top.
Bringing the 33-year-old Spaniard to Elland Road would certainly go some way to sorting that problem as the Whites look to win promotion to the Premier League, but it would also have some big implications for some of their players.
Harrison finally shines
There was a lot of excitement when Leeds signed the Manchester City wide man on a season-long loan deal during the summer, but the 22-year-old has largely struggled to make an impact when he has been on the pitch for them in the Championship.
The winger has no goals and just the one assist in 12 league appearances thus far, and perhaps one of the reasons for that is because he has had no focal point to aim for in the box when he is crossing.
Having the giant Llorente waiting in the penalty area would certainly change that, and his presence could finally allow Harrison to show the potential he clearly has.
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Bad news for Alioski
Should Llorente arrive in Yorkshire you would expect that he would be a guaranteed starter given he is dropping down into the Championship, and that would leave Alioski in a sticky situation.
Like Harrison, the Macedonia international perhaps hasn’t made as much of an impact as he would have liked this term, and he has no goals and just one assist in his previous eight league outings.
The presence of Llorente up top would likely see Roofe drop back – potentially to Alioski’s preferred left-hand side position – which could see the player who has been a regular under Bielsa drop to the substitutes’ bench.