After the flood of Italians arriving at Elland Road, it’s something of a surprise to see Leeds linked with Sunderland’s Danny Graham and Chesterfield’s Liam Cooper tonight.
The Daily Mirror are reporting that Leeds and Middlesbrough both want to take Danny Graham on loan, but with his current Sunderland continuing to pay most of his £30,000-a-week wages. But not surprisingly the Black Cats would prefer to sell him in a permanent deal to get him off their payroll altogether, as the 28 year-old is no longer part of Gus Ppyet’s plans.
Even though the striker can’t seem to be able to cut it in the Premiership he has a proven record at our level, having scored six times in 18 appearances on loan at Boro in the second half of last season, so he would be a useful replacement for Ross McCormack. But his current wages are obviously way beyond our present budget, so unless we can agree some sort of loan deal with Sunderland he won’t be coming to Elland Road.
We might stand a better chance with a bid for Chesterfield defender Liam Cooper, which was reported by Allan Biggs of the Sheffield Telegraph on his twitter account. Chesterfield are thought to value the 22 year-old at £1,000,000, and his former club, Hull City would be entitled to a portion of the fee due to a sell on clause.
Cooper is a former Scotland U19 international and has made 60 appearances for the Spireites. Our defending hasn’t exactly been impressive in our pre-season games so far, so he might well be needed. Watch this space.