"I really want us to sign him" - Leeds United told to strike AFC Bournemouth deal | OneFootball

Joe Rothwell has been fantastic for the Whites on loan this season, and Football League World's Fan Pundit wants to see him signed in the summer.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Leeds United have been by far and away the best team in the Championship this season, and while they have not quite been able to create a significant gap to second-place Sheffield United, they look incredibly likely to return to the Premier League.

The Whites missed out on promotion in 2023/24 after they lost in the play-off final to Southampton at Wembley, but they have showed no signs of a hangover from that defeat and instead, the West Yorkshire outfit have taken the division by storm.

Currently on a 17-match unbeaten run in the league, Daniel Farke has been able to learn from the mistakes that were made last season, and the Blades and Burnley have work to do if they are going to overtake their rival before the start of May.

Similar to their promotion in 2020, losing out in the play-offs has potentially benefited Leeds and they have strengthened greatly over the course of the last 10 months to become a side that looks incredibly likely to return to the Premier League.

Joe Rothwell named in Leeds player debate

One player that was involved in that play-off final made the switch to Elland Road in the summer, with Joe Rothwell heading back to Bournemouth from Southampton after a year on loan before joining the Whites for the 2024/25 campaign.

He was forced to wait for his first league start, but since then he has been influential in Farke's team and without him, his side would not be in the position that they find themselves in.

Football League World asked their Leeds Fan Pundit, Joe Blackburn, which player has surprised him the most this season, either in a positive or negative fashion, with there only one answer.

"I think the player that surprised me the most this season has to be Joe Rothwell," he started.

"A lot of people saw that we signed him on loan and figured he wouldn't necessarily make it into the team. We were starting Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev and he didn't really fit the profile of either of them and they were both safe in the squad.

"However, as the season went on, both of them got injured. We had to get Ao Tanaka and Rothwell into the midfield and now Tanaka is literally undroppable, whereas Rothwell is a more versatile option that we can either start or bring off the bench and he adds a little bit of something to our attack that other players just don't."

Joe continued: "I really want us to sign him in the coming summer. I'm not sure how much it will take to buy him from Bournemouth, but when we initially signed him on loan after he had been at Southampton last season, not many people thought that he was going to turn out to be the key player that he has increasingly been."

Leeds must sort a deal with Bournemouth for Rothwell

Rothwell has played just 35 games for his parent club, and it seems extremely unlikely that he will be able to break into the team on his return in the summer with Bournemouth fighting for a European place.

This does leave Leeds with an open door to arrange a transfer for the 30-year-old, and with just one-year left on his deal, they may be able to get him in relatively cheaply.

Farke has a significant amount of trust in the midfielder, and he has formed an excellent partnership with Ao Tanaka that must not be broken up.

However, there will be some concerns over his age and whether he will be useful as a long-term option in the middle of the park for Leeds - especially as the club's ambitions will be to become a consistent Premier League side as soon as promotion is won.