Is Bersant Celina’s Future at Elland Road?

Leeds United have recently been linked to Manchester City’s Bersant Celina. The 20-year-old has spent last season on loan at Eredivisie side FC Twente and will be looking to make another loan move for the upcoming season. With the Citizens midfield stacked with talent, Celina himself has said that he won’t be a part of Man City’s plans for now.

“The plan is to play in the Championship. I'm going to try to find a club there. It will be one of them [Leeds, Ipswich or Bolton] Then we'll see." Celina told Norwegian outlet NRK.

Just about every report you’ll read of Bersant Celina joining Leeds talks about his international experience, so I might as well too. Celina already packs a lengthy international resumé, as he’s won caps at the U15, U16, U17, and U21 for Norway, where he has lived since he was two years old. However, he was born in Prizren, Kosovo, and has already been capped for Dardanët 6 times with one goal already to his name.

So what does Celina bring to the table? He’s primarily an attacking midfielder but is also fine with playing out on the wing. Last season in the Eredivisie, Celina played in 27 matches, bagging in five goals and assisted on another five. That’s a goal once every 432 minutes, or once in every 4.8 games. Celina is fast. He’s very fast on the ball and loves taking guys on. He has a great vision for the game; he constantly found an area with no/not many defenders around him. Man City have their own highlight reel of Celina on their youtube page as well, and it shows Celina’s skill from free kicks.

In my eyes, outside of him joining and flopping/turning into a locker room enigma, there shouldn’t be any negatives if this deal does happen. Celina is a good player and should be able to give some starting XI guys a run for their money, even if it ends up being for one year. Competition brings out the best of players, so if Bersant’s arrival brings better football out of [insert Leeds attacker here] so be it! And while Celina has said he is not looking for a permanent move, he’s not looking for a permanent move now. As I mentioned before, the midfield at the Etihad is stacked. Even after the 2017/18 season finished, Celina will probably be on the outside looking in when it comes to a spot in the starting XI. If Celina tastes success as a pivotal member of the Whites (promotion, anyone?), he could be swayed into signing a deal permanently.