Leeds United linked to Barnsley’s Oliver McBurnie

As reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post, Barnsley forward Oliver McBurnie has been linked to a summer move to Leeds. McBurnie has been on loan since January 31st from Swansea City, and was brought to Barnsley FC by Paul Heckingbottom just days before he accepted the Leeds United job on February 6th.

McBurnie was originally signed to Bradford City from their youth academy, before being sold for an undisclosed fee to Swansea before the 2015-16 season began. He has since been loaned to Newport County, Bristol Rovers and now Barnsley, and has only played in 8 Premier League games during his 3 years at Swansea.

However, the 21 year old Scottish international has played exceptionally well in his nine Championship appearances so far, scoring six goals on 24 shots. He also received his first cap for Scotland on March 23 in a 0-1 loss to Costa Rica.

This move makes a lot of sense for Leeds on many levels. Firstly, Paul Heckingbottom obviously knows McBurnie well, and his reputation of finding and developing young talent is well-known throughout the football community. Secondly, Leeds have a Chris Wood shaped hole at forward that the likes of Pierre-Michel Lasogga and Caleb Ekuban have been unable to fill.

Given his recent run of form, Swansea very well could decide to put a high price tag on McBurnie, one that Leeds would not be able to match with their relatively small budget. Rangers FC have also been interested in McBurnie’s services in the past. That being said, this could be a very good signing for Leeds and one that could pay off for years to come.