According to reports in the Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds United are considering making a summer move for Brentford captain John Egan, who cost the west London outfit £400,000 initially following a tribunal after he joined them from Gillingham in 2016.
What’s the word, then?
Well, the Yorkshire Evening Post report that the Whites are expected to get their transfer business underway once Marcelo Bielsa has been appointed as their new manager, and signing a centre-back is seen as one of the priorities seeing as they have little senior experience in that position aside from Pontus Jansson and Liam Cooper.
The Yorkshire Evening Post says that the club, whose fans have been quick to react to a link with a new striker name with one saying “get Rhodes instead”, has failed to make much progress in their bid to bring Kyle Bartley back to Elland Road on a permanent basis following a successful loan spell in the 2016/17 season, and while they have looked at Egan they are yet to make an official approach for the Bees skipper.
How did Egan do during the 2017/18 campaign?
It was another decent campaign for the two-cap Republic of Ireland international, who made 34 appearances in all competitions having suffered from a couple of injury blows.
The 25-year-old showed his leadership skills and his threat in the air with three goals, winning 137 aerial duels in total in 33 Championship outings, as per WhoScored.com.
Egan is known for being something of a no-nonsense defender, and he certainly showed that when he had former Whites loanee Pierre-Michel Lasogga in his pocket during his side’s 3-1 win against Leeds at Griffin Park in November 2017.
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Would he be a good Leeds signing?
It’s difficult to say.
While the 25-year-old is clearly a decent defender, the Yorkshire outfit should be looking for a big upgrade on captain Cooper this summer, and you would be hard-pushed to describe the Republic of Ireland international as that.
That said, he is clearly a good leader and would add another vocal voice in the backline alongside Jansson, and his Championship experience, know-how and his willingness to put his body on the line for his team could be vital in ensuring they finally win promotion from the Championship.
