Leeds United Opinion: Whites should sign Ruben Pardo in the summer
According to claims from Spanish source, El Gol Digital, Leeds United are interested in signing La Liga midfielder Ruben Pardo, with manager Marcelo Bielsa keen on bringing the Real Sociedad star to Elland Road if he managed to guide the team to promotion.
The same report claims that Leeds are likely to provide Bielsa with a handsome transfer budget in the summer should he manage to bring Premier League football back to Elland Road after a prolonged absence of 15 years from the top flight.
A former U21 international for Spain, Ruben Pardo has been with his boyhood club for his entire youth and senior career so far, accumulating 6 goals and 33 assists from 187 appearances for the La Liga outfit. However, the 26-year-old has fallen out of favour in recent years and reports claim that he might be on his way out of the club after starting just 10 games in the La Liga this term.
Meanwhile, Leeds are just four games away from making it back to the Premier League. Bielsa’s charismatic stewardship has been instrumental in transforming the club’s fortunes and the fans will be hoping that there are no further slip-ups in the dying stages of the campaign, with the Whites sitting in the automatic promotion places.
Undoubtedly, securing promotion to the Premier League would be a massive feat for Leeds but they would need to bring in a few fresh faces in the summer to build a squad capable to beating the drop in the top flight. While attacking reinforcements are likely to be high on the manager’s wishlist for the summer, bringing in a quality central midfielder would certainly boost Leeds’ squad depth, and Pardo perfectly fits the bill.
Bielsa has preferred a 4-1-4-1 system in the Championship this season, with Kalvin Phllips playing at the base of the midfield and the likes of Mateusz Klich and Tyler Roberts adopting an attacking role.
The departure of Samuel Saiz to Getafe in January has forced the manager to play Tyler Roberts, who is essentially a striker, in the midfield, while the Whites are unlikely to keep Chelsea loanee Izzy Brown beyond the end of the season after his struggle with a long-term injury. Hence, it is quite clear that Leeds do not have much quality depth in their midfield options and bringing in someone like Ruben Pardo would solve plenty of problems for the manager.
Pardo is a technically-gifted and tactically versatile central midfielder who is comfortable playing in No.10 and No.8 roles in the middle of the park. Calm and comfortable in possession with a good understanding of the game, the Spaniard not only has the ability to spread out the play with his distribution skills but he is equally adept at breaking the opposition’s lines with some delightful through balls. He likes to play the ball off the ground and never hesitates to have a crack on goal from range, while also cutting out attacks with crucial interceptions.
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The 26-year-old has Champions League and Europa League experience in his CV and his vision and creativity should make him a good fit for Bielsa’s free-flowing attractive football. That said, Leeds should go all out to sign the La Liga ace in the summer.
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