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Deal to be offered as ‘change of heart’ emerges on ‘Quality’ player Leeds want to sign – report

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Leeds United transfer news: ‘Change of heart’ emerges at West Ham as Ben Johnson wanted at Elland Road and Crystal Palace

According to The Athletic, West Ham is now hoping to reopen contract talks with Ben Johnson after having a “change of heart” on the exit-linked defender that Leeds United wants to sign this month.

The previous four-year agreement that was on the table, which was rejected, had been seen as the final offer, but improved form over four appearances in the New Year has changed that thinking, according to a story published on the outlet’s website by their Hammers correspondent Roshane Thomas on January 26.

 

The Whites and Crystal Palace have expressed interest in signing Johnson during the January transfer window. Johnson is scheduled to have his contract expire in the summer and has already turned down two extension offers at the London Stadium.

The 24-year-old wants “assurances” over playing time to sign a new deal, having featured sparingly for David Moyes, and is willing to see out the last few months of his deal if terms can’t be agreed.

Unexpectedly popular

Johnson appears to have a few options now, and Leeds United may be able to take advantage of the uncertainty. Although the versatile defender—who plays mostly right-back but can also feature across the backline—would reportedly prefer to stay in the Premier League, he might still be interested in a move to Elland Road as the Whites look like more and more of an automatic promotion candidate. If West Ham knows that Johnson is happy to leave for free in a few months, they may be more willing to accept a cut-price deal before the transfer window closes.

All across the defense, Daniel Farke needs more players, and a trade for Johnson could be beneficial.

With just eight first-team appearances altogether, Johnson has started as many games in Premier League 2 this season as he has in the real top division (one). Moyes will undoubtedly need to make a commitment to using Johnson more than that.

In related developments:

 

‘Weird’… Phil Hay shares what Leeds really thought of Jack Clarke when they sold him

 

In recent years, Leeds United has been forced to sell several of its best academy players.Before they could completely develop at Elland Road, players like Lewis Cook, Ronaldo Vieira, and, going even farther back, Fabian Delph had to be traded. Leeds has occasionally had to live to rue those choices.

Jack Clarke was one of Leeds’ best academy products in recent years, although he quit the Whites after just one season of playing for the main team.

When Phil Hay discusses Clarke’s departure from Leeds on The Square Ball Podcast, he notes that the team was more than willing to transfer the winger to Spurs because they weren’t entirely confident he would play a significant role. They were also happy with the amount they received.

Leeds were happy to sell Clarke

Hay gave his knowledge of the winger.

“What’s strange about Jack Clarke, though, is that Leeds was happy to receive the fee when he was sold. It’s not that they didn’t think he was good enough, but they weren’t sure he would train and didn’t think he was worth that at that point. If you sold him now, you could easily turn a profit on that £9.4 million,” Hay explained.

Kicked on

It’s safe to assume that Leeds was mistaken in this particular instance.

Naturally, the Whites appeared to have won when Clarke struggled at Tottenham. However, he is currently perhaps Sunderland’s finest winger in the Championship, thus it seems inevitable that he will play in the Premier League the following season.

Over the course of the last two years, Clarke has really progressed, and it’s safe to conclude that Leeds made a mistake in assessing this young man’s potential and future worth.

For the time being, the amount Leeds charged Tottenham for Clarke proves that Clarke is worth more.

 

 

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