This is our fan commentator for Leeds United’s evaluation of Connor Roberts’ first impressions of Elland Road.
Leeds United won handily at Elland Road on Friday night, extending their perfect record for 2024.
Even though Daniel Farke’s team defeated Leicester City at the King Power Stadium in early November, the two teams’ point differential has shrunk to only six after their 3-1 victory in the rematch.
Leeds supporters now have a lot of confidence that they can force a two- or even three-way title competition with the Foxes and Ipswich Town in the 12 Championship games left. This is down to their unexpected and spectacular recovery.
According to FootballInsider, if the Whites are successful in their quest to return to the Premier League, they will be given a budget of between £75 and £100 million to spend on new players.
This might imply that a current loanee, who has shown promise in his interim cameos, would prolong his stay at Elland Road.
The Wales international Connor Roberts was finally brought in on loan on transfer deadline day during the last window, as Leeds needed to strengthen their defense when Djed Spence’s loan from Tottenham Hotspur ended.
As previously indicated, Roberts has made four substitute appearances for Leeds since leaving Burnley, who, given their precarious Premier League status, are quite likely to move up to Leeds’ spot.
We at Football League World have asked our resident United supporter, Kris Smith, about his thoughts on the 28-year-old thus far and if he ought to stay in West Yorkshire once the season ends.
“Roberts was just what we needed in January, I believe,” Smith said. “It was a sensible addition at right-back, and one that we know is going to be fully committed to a promotion bid.”
“He clearly wants to be here, and he knows how to get over the line in this sort of situation.”It’s too early to tell, in my opinion, if we’ve seen enough of him to judge his quality, but based on his time at Burnley and his bench appearances, I wouldn’t be upset if we made the signing permanent,” he said.
“He definitely makes our squad perform better. Particularly at right-back, where there aren’t many alternatives for us.
“However, even if we signed Roberts permanently, I would look to sign at least two more full-backs in the summer,” Smith stated.
We don’t have enough depth, therefore we need one right-back to push Archie Gray back into midfield and another on the left.
In closing, he said, “I would be more than happy to sign Roberts. That would be great.” However, I don’t think that would be our main task at right-back.”
Smith suggests that, considering Roberts’ reputation at this level with Swansea City and Burnley and his role in the Clarets’ title-winning exploits this season, the short-term recruitment of Roberts was a wise move.
Despite the fact that Vincent Kompany’s team has struggled this season, the 53-year-old Wales international started 8 of his 14 top tier games prior to taking this loan transfer, indicating that, should promotion be gained, he would at least be a useful component of Farke’s squad.
Roberts is unlikely to start anytime soon given Archie Gray’s impressive run of performances in an odd position. As Smith points out, more natural options in the wide defensive areas would be necessary to see the 17-year-old return to central midfield, where he last appeared in a league game back in early October.
In any case, Roberts has to keep contributing in spurts, as seen by his equalizer against the Foxes, which quickly changed the course of what may still be a game that defines the season.