"What is the end product?" - Brian Deane urges Leeds United to take critical action involving Rutter & Bamford | OneFootball

Brian Deane believes Leeds United require other options in attack to support their key forwards next season.

Brian Deane has urged Leeds United to sign some extra quality in attacking areas to support the likes of Georginio Rutter and Patrick Bamford next season, with neither a prolific striker for an extended period of their career.

Failure to go up at the first time of asking leaves Leeds at the mercy of many of Europe's elite clubs.

Archie Gray has left the West Yorkshire outfit, alongside other fringe players or loaned out players such as Diego Llorente and Marc Roca, whilst Joe Rodon has come the other way from Tottenham Hotspur.

However, there is bound to be far more in the way of both incomings and outgoings.

Daniel Farke put his faith back in Patrick Bamford last season, and the out-of-favour striker repaid the faith in him with nine goals during the second half of the campaign.

It was Bamford's sixth season with the club, having signed for Leeds in the summer of 2018 from Middlesbrough, for an initial fee in the region of £7 million, which could rise to £10 million with add-ons.

However, his time in West Yorkshire has been somewhat up and down, in part due to persistent injury issues that have prevented him from having an extended run in the team over the last few years.

Bamford is also a purple patch goalscorer, albeit the streaks in front of goal may have become less frequent in recent seasons.

Another player who has struggled in a goalscoring sense for Leeds is Georginio Rutter. He was largely utilised as the main centre-forward with more of a free roaming role at the beginning of last season, occupying spaces to create openings for his teammates.

With both players leaving a lot to be desired in front of goal, Leeds may need goals from other areas of the team. Which is why news of Crysencio Summerville and Willy Gnonto's departures will be of concern to Leeds.

Rutter may have some issues regarding his finishing ability, much like Bamford, but the output of the former two will be difficult to replace, should they depart from the Whites this summer.

Brian Deane urges Leeds United to bring in more talents to support Rutter & Bamford

Speaking on Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, Pete O'Rourke has claimed that Leeds are prepared to accept "big offers" for Gnonto, Rutter and Summerville this summer, even though they have already secured a lucrative deal for Gray.

Leeds fans will hope that they are able to retain at least one of those, but will be concerned.

The Whites have rejected a £30 million offer from Brighton for Georginio Rutter, according to Leeds Live.

Although the news regarding his future has since died down, when compared to Summerville and Gnonto. Brighton are now considering whether to launch a fresh offer for Rutter, according to talkSPORT.

However, ex-Leeds United striker Brian Deane has revealed his thoughts on both Bamford's reliability, and Rutter's importance heading into next season, should Leeds begin the 2024/25 campaign with them as part of a new-look attacking unit at Elland Road.

Deane, speaking exclusively to Football League World about football today, said: “I think they probably need another type of centre-forward, as one thing that is evident from watching Leeds last year is that they have Bamford, Rutter and [Joel] Piroe who are left-footed and can all play pretty much the same position - but the problem is that they didn’t have different types of forwards.

“You find that in the Championship if you’ve got two exceptional strikers that play every week or teams that have got promoted have got three or four options or combinations up front, and that’s the only way you’re going to score enough goals.

“You might have one scoring 10, 16 and 20, and they’re the teams getting promoted because they have different players scoring goals from everywhere. So I think they need to go and get another type of forward. “They need somebody who people don’t like playing against. I played with Paul Dickov, and his nickname was the pest, and that is the kind of player that Leeds need.

"They play good football and everybody loves it, but sometimes they can’t convert those games into wins, so that’s the kind of forward that they need.”

Quizzed on whether the Whites should sell Rutter this summer, Deane added: “I don’t know. For me, he’s a good footballer but is it a case of people love watching him play, but what is the end product?

“That’s the issue that I think they’ve got. Rutter isn’t really a centre-forward. He’s a number 10, and I’ve never seen him play as a centre-forward. As with Bamford; okay he’s a little bit older and his injury record isn’t great, but they all want to play the same part of the pitch, where they’re all comfortable.”

Rutter and Bamford's finishing issues need to be addressed by Leeds United in transfer window

Rutter has played in various roles, including as a striker or winger, throughout his career.

For Leeds, he was initially signed to play as a centre-forward, but he is not at his best when playing as a lone striker or as the role of the main goalscorer.

Rutter works best with space to turn into to attack the box, or is good at running in the channels.

He is a very direct dribbler, and not a hold-up striker. As a centre-forward, he is less able to do the things he is best at, as he is often tasked with pinning the opposition centre-back, which is not a strength of his game, and likely never will be, either.

The next stage of his development as a player has to be to improve in terms of his finishing and the consistency and quality of his ball-striking.

For Leeds next season, they cannot rely on him and Bamford to score the goals to fire them up, and the recruitment department at Leeds will need to provide the side with enough goals as the supporting cast next season.