Whelan salutes Bielsa as Leeds line up move for ‘great’ Harroui
Noel Whelan has heaped praise on Marcelo Bielsa as Leeds United line up a summer move for Sparta Rotterdam midfielder Abdou Harroui.
The former Whites and Middlesbrough striker Noel Whelan, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, suggested the 23-year-old could reach exciting heights under the guidance of ‘El Loco’.
This site revealed on 5 June that Leeds and Brighton have joined the race to sign the Holland Under-21 international this summer.
Harroui will enter the final 12 months of his contract at Sparta Rotterdam next month and it has opened the door for potential suitors to buy him.
The centre-midfielder enjoyed the best campaign of his career in 2020-21 and contributed six goals and three assists in 32 Eredivisie games.
When asked by Football Insider‘s Dylan Childs for his thoughts on the potential arrival of Harroui, Whelan said: “First and foremost he is a great age.
“Marcelo Bielsa likes to work with players of that age because he can develop them. We have seen so many players improve ten-fold under Bielsa and Harroui could be another great player. He can enhance players.
“Harroui has loads of energy and his stats are impressive.
“The recruitment team will have done their due diligence on him. Bielsa does not buy players off one good season. He will have every bit of information possible about this player. He probably knows what school he went to and what grades he got!
“This is Marcelo Bielsa we are talking about. He requires a lot of boxes to be ticked but above all else he needs the right character. A player needs to show a willingness to adapt, learn and be educated.”
In other news, La Liga expert has insight on Leeds signing Galan for ‘bargain’ price after Wednesday update.