Rarely have Leeds United enjoyed such depth in the attacking department.
Even during their Championship winning season under Marcelo Bielsa in 2019/20, Leeds United were only ever a few injuries away from a selection headache. Helder Costa failed to live up to his hefty price-tag and Tyler Roberts always flattered to deceive, leaving the Yorkshire giants reliant upon the likes of an inconsistent Jack Harrison and the enigmatic Gianni Alioski.
Flash forward to early 2025, and it’s tempting to wonder what sort of a tune Bielsa would have got out of a fearsome array of attacking weapons including Manor Solomon, Dan James, Willy Gnonto and Largie Ramazani.
Solomon and James were ‘unplayable’ as Leeds thrashed Watford 4-0 on Tuesday night – to quote Farke himself – while Gnonto and Ramazani have made valuable contributions off the bench too.
So while the narrative surrounding Manuel Benson at Burnley may be that he is paying the price for failing to secure an exit from Turf Moor last summer, a move to Elland Road would certainly not have been a guarantee of greater opportunities.
Leeds United wanted to sign Burnley benchwarmer Manuel Benson
Leeds reportedly held talks to sign Manuel Benson from Burnley shortly before they tied up deals for Ramazani and Solomon in the final days of the window.
The Belgium-born Angola international scored 11 goals – some pretty special goals as well – as Vincent Kompany’s Burnley took the Championship by storm in 2023. While not a direct replacement for either Crysencio Summerville or Georginio Rutter – the former played on the left and the latter at ‘ten’ – Benson was identified as the sort of player who could perhaps emulate their numbers in the attacking third.
Eighteen months on, however, he has not come close to scaling those heights again. Benson has actually started only one league game since the beginning of 2023/24. Kompany’s replacement, Scott Parker, has included Benson in his XI once since taking over, and that came in the FA Cup win over Southampton last weekend.
Benson’s output in the Championship has been limited to a mere ten minutes, largely due to a long-standing achilles tendon injury. He was left on the bench in each of the last three outings.
And while the seldom-seen 27-year-old may be creeping back towards full fitness, that does not guarantee him a place in Parker’s team. It is no secret that Burnley were planning to sell the former Royal Antwerp man last summer, leaving him out of an August defeat to Sunderland in preparation for a likely departure.
Scott Parker planned to sell the Leeds-linked forward in 2024
“I decided it was probably best that [Benson and the other exit-linked players] were not involved,” Parker said at the time. “No doubt players will be leaving.”
Why Benson did not say his goodbyes, in the end, may have something to do with Leeds themselves.
Burnley will have had reservations about selling to a direct title rival. A decision justified with both teams making up two-thirds of the Championship’s top three right now.
And, in truth, it is hard to imagine Benson ousting the relentless James and nailing down a starting role in his favourite right-wing position in West Yorkshire. Leeds’ likely return to the Premier League – touch wood – also means Farke and co will be pursuing a higher class of player in the summer.
What the future holds for Benson, then, is anyone’s guess.
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