Leeds United continued their poor start to the Premier League season as they lost 1-0 to Southampton at St. Mary’s, leaving them 17th in the table.
One team enduring a worse campaign, however, is newly-promoted Norwich. The Canaries are rooted to the bottom of the league and held Brighton to a 0-0 draw on Saturday.
Interestingly, though, a Leeds transfer target was involved in a slight controversy, as Todd Cantwell was omitted from the matchday squad despite being available for selection after time out due to personal reasons.
Norwich manager Daniel Farke insisted that his lack of involvement was purely down to Kieran Dowell’s form in training, although the ex-Everton man was then an unused substitute. He said:
“It was not a decision against Todd. It was more about Kieran, who was always available during this period. He trains unbelievably hard and in an outstanding way.
“Todd missed many weeks and was only back in team training at the start of the week. For each and every player who comes back after missing a period of training they have to show consistency in how they train to be picked ahead of a different player.”
With Cantwell’s contract expiring at the end of the season, this potential friction at Carrow Road could allow Leeds to swoop in and secure a deal in the January transfer window. Norwich have the option to extend his terms for another year, which means that it is unlikely Leeds will be able to sign him for nothing, but the next window could represent their best chance to rake in a large fee for the attacker.
If the Canaries wait until next summer to cash in then he will only have 12 months left on his contract and could be forced to sell for a minimal fee. Therefore, Leeds could tempt them into selling him in January for a deal that would suit all parties involved, with the Whites not overpaying for his services and Norwich not losing him for next to nothing.
His former Norwich youth team coach, Gary Cockaday, hailed his talents in an eye-catching way. He told The Athletic:
“He did things every week that were just special. It was God-given. No one taught it. I always believed if you had someone like that, don’t change them or make them conform.”
Orta must ensure that he can get a deal over the line for the midfielder as he could forge an exciting partnership with current first-team star Raphinha.
The Brazilian loves to get fans off their seats at Elland Road, with nine goals and nine assists in the top-flight since the start of last season. Cantwell was directly involved in 12 goals in the Championship last term and managed six strikes and two assists in the Premier League the year before.
This shows that, like Raphinha, the Englishman has the ability to score and create goals from an attacking midfield position. Therefore, they could form a deadly attack for Leeds by linking up together to open up chances for themselves to score, weaving inside and out of opposition defenders.
Imagine Cantwell and Raphinha playing one-twos on the edge of the box to work room for a shot or to feed the ball to Patrick Bamford for him to score…tantalising!
AND in other news, Concerning injury update emerges on £35k-p/w Leeds powerhouse, fans surely devastated…