Leeds have completed the signing of Sunderland winger Will Buckley on an ‘emergency loan’ deal.
The 25-year-old, who has been training at Thorp Arch this week, has joined us on a deal that runs until January 2, and he could make his debut in the home game against Birmingham tomorrow. Buckley has not made an appearance for Dick Advocaat's side this season, and was not named in the Black Cats' 25-man Premier League squad.
Buckley told ITV "When Leeds came in, that was the club I wanted to go to. It’s a massive club with a good manager. I want to get some games and help this big club get back to where it needs to be. I just want to get back to playing football now and I think this is a great opportunity for me at a good club to get back to where I need to be.”
Obviously we’re not famous any more! Uwe Rosler was full of praise for the new signing on our official site. "He brings pace, directness, goal threat and he's a good lad. He brings experience in the Championship and experience of playing for a team who challenge at the top of the Championship."
Buckley is a naturally a left-sided player who can also to play on the right, which raises the question of exactly where he could be accommodated in our line-up. Possibly he will operate in his favoured position with Dallas moved over to the right, with Botaka starting the game on the bench as cover for the other two.
Now that we’ve got three natural wingers at the club, the chances are that we won’t be seeing Sam Byram back in the starting line-up any time soon, given his on-going contract dispute with the club and Beradi’s decent form at right back.
It might seem unimpressive to sign a player who can’t get into Sunderland’s squad even when they’ve made a desperate start to the season, but although Buckley can’t seem to cut it in the Premier League, he’s got plenty of experience in our current division.
He started out at Watford and then played 109 games for Brighton, including 35 appearances for the Albion side that reached the play-offs under Gus Poyet in 2012/13. After Poyet took him to Sunderland he played 22 Premier League games last season, but their current manager Dick Advocaat doesn’t seem to regard him so highly.
After falling out of favour at the Stadium of Light Buckley will obviously feel that he’s got something to prove, and he may well prove to be a very good signing.