This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
Leeds United have been linked with a move for West Brom’s 19-year-old full-back Nathan Ferguson this week as Football Insider have reported that the club are compiling a dossier about the defender.
The Baggies man has started 11 matches for Slaven Bilic’s side already this term, and with West Brom losing just one game so far this campaign it’s fair to say that he’s had a good start to life in the senior team at The Hawthorns.
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Makings of a top player
The defender has all the makings of a top player. The fact that he’s reportedly being watched by Juventus and Atletico Madrid tells you all you need to know, and his manager has been full of praise for him this season.
“Nathan is talented: he reminds me of Declan Rice, ” Bilic said. “He is only 18 on paper but his head and mind is like he’s 25 or 27. He’s a kid in a positive way in that he is not afraid to play.
“That’s the good thing about being young because he is thinking positively. It’s our job, and his family’s, to keep him humble and then there is no doubt that he has an extremely bright future and great career in front of him.” the Croatian manager noted.
Dilemma
Of course, signing a player with so much touted potential is an exciting prospect, but it will leave Marcelo Bielsa with a dilemma if he were to join the club.
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Full-back is a position where Leeds have a lot of cover with Barry Douglas, Ezgjan Alioski, Luke Ayling and Stuart Dallas all capable of playing that role to a high standard.
It’s already tough enough for the Argentine to choose between those four players on a weekly basis at the moment, but if you add Ferguson to the equation, it becomes an almost impossible task.
After all, Ayling’s return to the side has seen Dallas have to move into the middle of the park, such are their options in wide defensive roles.
The teenager would be a great addition to the squad, particularly if they beat some of the names in for him, but if Bielsa wanted to incorporate him into the team right away, he would have a very tough decision to make.