Should Leeds take a chance on Victor Anichebe?

While the Leeds United faithful wait for the manager situation to come to a close, Victor Orta and the other top brass at the club will be searching the transfer market for available players. With the Premier League publishing a list of players that have been released by their clubs, fans can start to speculate to see if any of the newly released players can possibly fill a need at their clubs.

One such player that is probably being discussed at a few different clubs is the former Everton player Victor Anichebe. The tall Nigerian striker is now unattached after being released by Sunderland after the Black Cats were relegated last season. With Leeds in desperate need of goal scoring, Anichebe could be a good option off the bench for the Whites to call upon when chasing a game or when Wood needs a rest.

Anichebe has never been an especially prolific forward, totaling only 28 goals in 162 appearances over eight years for Everton, but he has height, pace, and power, all qualities that have been proven to be reliable factors in goal-scoring in the Championship. And while he did only score three goals for Sunderland last year, all three came during November when Sunderland were still fighting hard and the team hadn’t given up.

David Moyes had experience with Anichebe at Everton, and while searching for a successful formation with Sunderland, he inserted Anichebe into the starting eleven alongside Jermain Defoe in November of last year, which resulted in the best form of the season for Sunderland. With Anichebe in the lineup, the Black Cats won four out of seven contests and looked as if they were turning a corner, but the fortunes quickly changed once Anichebe was ruled out for 12 weeks with injury.

Would this signing be a risk? Absolutely. And, to be quite frank, his wage demands will probably be too great for Leeds anyway. This would be a low-risk move for the club to take, since a transfer fee would not have to be paid for his services, and with him only scoring three times last season, he would likely struggle to find Premier League clubs willing to sign him. However, if Anichebe would be willing to drop down a level to a promotion seeking Championship club, and alter his wage demands accordingly, Leeds would be an ideal landing spot.