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Leeds United’s quest for young talent continues, and the latest player to be linked with a move to Elland Road is 19 year-old Wales U21 international Tyler Roberts. Journalist Alan Nixon is reporting that Leeds are interested in signing the young striker from West Brom in the January transfer window.
Another one on the "haven't seen much of him" pile.
— Mighty Whites Pod (@mightywhitespod) January 19, 2018
From things read in past he's highly rated. Linked w/ moves to a few clubs earlier in season and recently linked to Rangers & Marseille. Has a lot of pace and out of contract at end of season so not overly expensive. #lufc #MOT pic.twitter.com/1WSXiJUsw9
Roberts currently is on the books at West Bromwich Albion, although he has yet to feature for the first team at the West Midlands club. He has made a number of appearances for the U23s at West Brom, and he’s also gone out on loan a few different times, to Walsall, Shrewsbury, and Oxford United.
He has also been linked with moves to other clubs, with both Rangers FC in Scotland and Marseille in Ligue 1 also interested in signing the young player. He’s out of contract in the summer, so West Brom may be forced to sell the young player now or risk a tribunal where the compensation would be up in the air and based upon number of appearances rather than market valuation.
An example of what kind of difference that can make compensation wise would be current Middlesbrough player Ashley Fletcher. Fletcher was signed by West Ham United when his contract at Manchester United was up and rather than go to a tribunal, the fee was set at £1 million back in April of last year. Only a few months later, Fletcher was sold to Boro for £6.5 million, earning West Ham a tidy profit.
Roberts has been on loan at Walsall this season, where he’s made 15 appearances and scored five goals and assisted on another three before being recalled to the parent club. He looks to be a similar player to Mallik Wilks with possibly a bit better scoring record in the lower divisions. He’s got to be one for the future, as Leeds have made an emphasis on signing up young players ever since Andrea Radrizzani bought the club last summer.