Leeds United are reportedly on the verge of signing teenager Stuart McKinstry from Motherwell after agreeing a £400,000 fee with the Scottish Premiership club.
It appears as though Leeds’ director of football Victor Orta is about to uncover a real gem of a player after Football Insider reported that the 16-year-old attacker has passed a medical at Elland Road and is set to be the Spaniard’s latest youthful addition in West Yorkshire.
HAS ORTA PLAYED A BLINDER?
In short, yes. The Scottish Sun reported in January that Southampton were trying to hijack Leeds’ move to sign McKinstry after tabling a bid to sign him. However after a few months of battling for the youngster’s signature, it appears as though Leeds have come out on top with the Motherwell winger now said to have passed a medical with the Yorkshire giants. Orta has had quite a good track record of adding young players to the Whites’ squad. He was widely-criticised last season for allocating too much of the club’s funds towards adding foreign players to the Under-18 and Under-23 squads, but after Marcelo Bielsa helped balance out the senior squad last summer, it has become apparent that the Spanish director of football is worth his weight in gold. Orta has been behind some quality additions to the youth sides such as Hugo Diaz, Aapo Halme, Kun Temenuzhkov, Pascal Strujik and Jordan Stevens. Mateusz Bogusz was signed in Janaury and already looks like the real deal. McKinstry is another young player with bags of potential and can be worth way more than what Leeds are paying for him this summer.
WHEN WILL WE SEE HIM?
Leeds fans should not expect to see McKinstry in the first team for quite some time. The Scotland Under-17 international will celebrate his 17th birthday in September, but even then, it’s unlikely that he will be breaking into Marcelo Bielsa’s squad. The Argentine has put a lot of faith in young players this season with the likes of Jack Clarke, Halme and Jamie Shackleton all playing roles in the club’s bid for promotion. If Leeds fail to win promotion then the chances of seeing McKinstry next season will be a lot higher than if Leeds do win promotion.
INTERESTING FACT
It was reported last year that Orta was on the verge of leaving Leeds in order to return to Spain, with Deportivo interested in hiring him.