Sky Sports think our keeper will ask for a transfer, yet his agents say he’s going to stay put and see out his contract. If he does go then we might be after Daniel Bentley of Southend United as his replacement.

Brian McDermott has admitted that Paddy Kenny has now recovered from the injury which prompted the loan signing of Jack Butland in February, but the keeper has yet to make his way back into his matchday squad. It’s understandable that the manager thinks that Butland is the better option while he’s still available, but the real surprise is that Alex Cairns is being selected ahead of Kenny for a place on the bench.

Sky have reported that Kenny is frustrated at the lack of first team opportunities and is “considering his future” at Leeds now that he’s clearly no longer part of Brian McDermott’s plans. They claim that several Championship clubs are interested, and less plausibly that “Several Premier League sides are also keeping tabs on Kenny”. At 35 I can’t see him being first choice for a club at the top level, so at best he’d be cover for a club in the top division.

But this is contradicted by a statement from his agents, which confirmed that he’s fully recovered from his ankle injury, but says he’s been “training hard over the last few weeks” to try to get back into the side. “Having 75 first-team appearances and with another year left on his contract, he’s hoping he’ll have the chance to add to that total in the future.”

As he was signed during the Bates era I woudn’t have thought his current contract was that generous, so I’ll assume he isn’t tempted to stay at Leeds just to pick up his wages. But it could be that he thinks McDermott’s days as a manager are numbered, so he might as well stay put and try his luck with whoever takes over as the new boss.

If Kenny does leave then Leeds will have to bring at least one new keeper into the squad, possibly more. McDermott has suggested Leeds will try to sign Butland permanently, but at the time the loan deal was agreed Mark Hughes said he was only loaning the keeper out for him to get some first team experience and wouldn’t consider selling him. In any case, Stoke would want to at least recoup the £3 million they paid to sign him from Birmingham.

Jamie Ashdown is out of contract in the summer and likely to leave after enduring an injury-hit season. And Alex Cairns has yet to be offered a new deal by the club. The youth team product has looked promising whenever he has made a first team appearance, but he’s now 21 and the same age as Butland, so if he was going to make the breakthrough as a first team regular then he should have done so by now.

Brian McDermott is reported to have gone to Rochdale on Friday to watch Southend’s Daniel Bentley, but their manager Phil Brown told the Southend Echo that he hopes to be able to keep his
goalkeeper. “Daniel has done very well this season, he’s young and has kept 19 clean sheets so I’m not surprised if there is interest in him or any other or players who have done well this season. But my job is to try and keep the best players here and that’s what I will be trying to do.”

Bentley still has two years left on his contact, but if Cellino wants the player he might put up a sum that will persuade Southend to do the business. Watch this space.

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