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If this man was as careful on the pitch as Leeds United are being off it, they may not be so hesitant in giving him a new contract.
According to a report from Football Insider, Leeds United are stalling over negotiations for their central defender Gaetano Berardi.
The defender has had to step up to the plate in recent games given the injury to captain Liam Cooper and has had rather mixed fortunes.
He was sent off whilst conceding a penalty against Millwall (although that card was later rescinded), and then put in an above-average display against Birmingham City on his return, earning a 7/10 rating from Leeds Live in the process.
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The report claims Leeds are going to be incredibly thorough with how they approach the negotiations, saying that:
“The Championship giants will put talks on hold over a new deal while they wait to see how the campaign pans out. Much will depend on Berardi’s form and his involvement in the team, as well as whether Leeds are playing in the Premier League or the second tier next season.”
It’s good to see that the Whites and Victor Orta are going to be taking a pragmatic approach to this rather than just tying him down for the sake of it.
The biggest deciding factor in all of this will be what division Leeds find themselves in come next summer.
If he and his teammates perform well and end up in the Premier League, they’ll likely be able to attract a higher class of player and won’t necessarily need him to play as big a role – especially given his disciplinary record, you’d probably want a safer pair of hands in your back-line.
They may even be able to put themselves in a great position to try and bring back Ben White from Brighton and Hove Albion, either on a permanent deal or another loan.
Whereas if they are in the Championship yet again, they could be forced to stick with what they’ve got, and that’s when someone like Berardi can come in and act as either a backup for another loan player, or become a regular in the starting eleven.
That being said, they’ll need him to stop being so careless if he’s to become a regular.
So it looks as if his future isn’t just in his hands, but in those of his teammates as well. It puts a new spin on the phrase ‘Marching On Together’ doesn’t it?