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2 pros and 2 cons if Leeds United swoop for 27-year-old

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Leeds United have been linked with a late swoop for Blackburn Rovers defender Darragh Lenihan.

Leeds’ injury problems mean that transfers this month were seen as a must, with a seven-point gap to the bottom three a little too close for comfort.

Players from various leagues and divisions have been linked, and one of those is Blackburn centre-back Darragh Lenihan, as per TEAMtalk.

The report details that Leeds, and other Premier League clubs, are eyeing up a bargain with the defender out of contract at the end of the season.

Here, we take a look at two pros and two cons to Leeds possibly pursuing this deal

Pro: It’s cheap

The main thing that sticks out about this being a viable deal for a top-flight club is that it’s not going to cost the club much.

With Lenihan being 27 and out of a deal, he’s not going to command a huge fee.

Blackburn’s current promotion push means that there might be a case for him staying, but if they fall short, he’s likely going for nothing.

Even in January, Leeds’ main sticking point with a lot of deals is that they’re going to be priced out of it, or forced to pay handsomely to get the player.

With Lenihan, that’s not the case.

Con: Do we need him?

As much as any sort of signing would see the fans satisfied to a certain extent, centre-back is arguably our best covered position.

After promotion, we brought in two senior centre-backs, while Pascal Struijk has also joined the side, and now Leo Hjelde and Charlie Cresswell look like viable options.

There are six options right now that Bielsa could use in the Premier League and get a tune out of.

Would adding Lenihan solve our problems with depth elsewhere? Or would he even add anything to our already stacked and talented defence?

Pro: Depth always helps

The flipside to that argument is that we are dangerously short at the best of times, let alone when our injury-prone defenders pick up issues.

We’ve been forced to hand debuts to two teenagers at centre-back this season, and that’s not an ideal scenario even if they’re both immense.

Not only that, but we’ve routinely seen Luke Ayling through the middle, despite all of those names mentioned above, so depth could be improved upon.

If it keeps Ayling in his best position at right-back, then it’s killing two birds with one stone.

Con: Does it help his career?

A major drawback to this deal is not that it’s not the most pressing deal that we should be signing, but that we have to question whether it benefits Lenihan himself.

He’s the captain of a promotion-chasing Championship side right now, and a departure would have him as a sporadic option here, right as he’s hitting his prime.

Lenihan will want Premier League football, and he could well get that with Blackburn, which is a much better result for him this season than moving to Leeds and being stuck on the bench.

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Leeds United season ticket holder since 2013/14, currently situated in the middle of the FA5 noise. From Pablo Hernandez to 5-1 drubbings, I've seen it all at Elland Road.