Leeds United need to sign Leicester’s Harvey Barnes on loan

The Toulon tournament going on in France has been going great for the young England team that is there. Despite the fact that the FIFA U-20 tournament is going on at the exact same time, the young Three Lions stars are playing fantastic, with a 3-0 drubbing of Scotland yesterday taking the team to the finals.

Leeds United’s Ronaldo Vieria has been one of the starters in midfield for England, but the player that grabbed all the headlines and all of the glory was Leicester City’s young midfielder Harvey Barnes. Barnes scored twice to lead England’s attack against Scotland, and put in a man-of-the-match performance.

Leeds United needs another midfielder, and while all of the attention has been paid to Jonny Howson or other established players, a hungry young player that needs to prove himself on a higher level would be a fantastic pick-up. Barnes has played well alongside Vieria as well, which is a good sign that they can translate their dominance for the England team into a Leeds side that is a bit short on creativity and goal-scoring from midfield.

Barnes, who is only 19 years old, only signed a pro contract last year for Leicester City, and made his debut for the Foxes in the 5-0 capitulation against Porto in Portugal, when Leicester had already qualified for the Round of 16 in the Champions League.

What has turned heads, however, is the time that Barnes spent out on loan at League One side MK Dons. He left Leicester in January for a loan spell down the M1 at Milton Keynes. While playing for the Dons, Barnes scored six goals in only 20 appearances, and even earned the “Young Player of the Season” award, despite only playing half the season for them.

It appears that Barnes needs to prove himself at a higher level, and with a crowded Leicester City midfield ahead of him, he probably needs to go out on loan again to get match time. Leeds would be a perfect destination for the emerging star, and with goals needed from someone not named Chris Wood, he would be afforded the freedom to go forward while Vieria or Liam Bridcutt mind the shop behind him.

Loan signings aren’t ideal, obviously, but bringing Pontus Jansson aboard last year was a fantastic move for the Whites, and if Leeds get promoted, they would be able to offer a young player like Barnes a better chance at playing first team football at a high level than his parent club would, so he might be willing to make the deal permanent in the summer. These kinds of deals are what Leeds United needs to do to drive the team forward instead of looking in the bargain bin for cast-offs or for older players on high wages who don’t care. Bring in Barnes, Victor Orta. No finders fee needed.