Sources: Leeds face significant extra costs after agreeing £4m+ deal in fee & wages
By Wayne Veysey
Leeds United face the prospect of paying substantial added costs to Arsenal if they do not regularly play loan star Eddie Nketiah, Football Insider understands.
United completed the deadline-day capture of the striker, 20, earlier this month after agreeing a loan fee with the Premier League giants of more than £2million as well as contributing to the player's £35,000-a-week Gunners salary for the 2018-19 campaign.
A Leeds source has told Football Insider that penalty clauses have been included in Nketiah's loan contract that will force Leeds to make added payments to Arsenal if he is not getting regular minutes under Marcelo Bielsa.
The striker is waiting for his Championship debut despite being available for their last two league games, Saturday's win over Wigan Athletic and the 1-1 draw against Nottingham Forest.
He was an unused substitute against Wigan as Patrick Bamford continued his bright start to the campaign with both goals in the 2-0 triumph at the DW Stadium.
Given that Bielsa prefers not to rotate or even axe players, with the trend of his 14 months at Leeds that they are usually only omitted due to injury or suspension, Nketiah could have to wait some time for his Championship chance.
It could lead to a hugely significant outlay for United to sign him increasing substantially, even though he served notice of his potential with a debut goal in the League Cup win over Salford City last week.
It is increasingly common for Premier League clubs to insist upon penalty clauses when loaning out their players, to avoid losing out completely if they do not get regular game time.