Leeds only have one area they desperately need to improve in January; their defence.
With a number of senior players out injured, their back four is having to be patched together with duct tape on a regular basis.
What’s the word?
With the transfer window now open, it represents the perfect chance for Victor Orta to strengthen Marcelo Bielsa’s side.
Diego Llorente, Robin Koch and Liam Cooper are all out injured so adding defensive bodies is certainly at the height of Orta’s agenda.
Chelsea centre-back Fikayo Tomori has been linked with a loan switch until the end of the season but another option has now presented itself to Leeds.
That happens to be Manchester City youngster Luke Mbete. The 17-year-old is one of the most impressive talents in their academy and as a result, is attracting attention from both Leeds and Juventus.
That’s according to the Athletic who profiled the defender this week.
The new White
Although Tomori would have a far greater impact initially, Mbete has demonstrated that he has immense potential in the game. Thus, he should be at the forefront of Orta’s mind this month.
The teenager has been described as a “speedy” defender who is “powerfully built” by Micah Richards and that could be the perfect remedy to Leeds’ problems.
After all, Dean Windass exclusively told Football FanCast last year that finding defenders with natural speed was key to the Whites finding success in the Premier League.
Of course, Cooper is a tad slow, so complementing that with a faster and younger defender wouldn’t be a bad thing.
We saw firsthand the advantages of that when Ben White spent the season on loan at Leeds during their Championship-winning campaign.
Writing about Mbete, the Athletic’s Sam Lee said: “He (Mbete) is tall and fast, but perhaps his most eye-catching trait is his passing.”
That immediately draws comparisons to White, someone who played wonderful passes out from the back during his stay in Yorkshire. He was assured with his balls forward, picking the lock of a host of opposition defences with mesmeric cross-field passes. At points, it looked as though he was a midfielder, rather than a centre-half.
The Brighton defender completed 84.6% of his passes last term but Mbete is even better in that regard. During City U23s EFL Trophy run, he has succeeded with 94% of the passes he’s attempted.
Mbete is still very raw but he’d be a fabulous addition to Elland Road.