Why The Signing Of Adam Forshaw Is Already A Good Move For Leeds United
Adam Forshaw only signed for Leeds on January 18th having been made surplus to requirements by Tony Pulis at Middlesbrough. But he has already made quite an impact at Elland Road.
His £4.5million move raised a few eyebrows with some suggesting that the fee was on the large side. However, Forshaw has a fair Premier League history with Boro and we’ll never really know why the 26-year-old’s game time reduced, first under Garry Monk and then under Pulis.
At this age, not only is he not past it but he is only just about to potentially reach his peak. So, in theory, Leeds have signed a midfielder who can only get better – this improvement from a player who has already performed at the top level.
When playing for Middlesbrough this season from the start of games, Forshaw averaged 6.37 on whoscored.com which is not befitting of a player of his ability. Since joining Leeds however, the midfielder is so far going at 7.18 from three games and will naturally improve once he has fully settled into the club and the area.
His natural level looks like being around 7.3 or above on ratings and this puts him in the same sort of category as Roe Ralls and James Maddison, players who are highly rated and/or playing at the very top of this league.
In football, differences of opinion or changes in people’s personal lives are too easily overlooked by press and supporters. Clearly, something wasn’t right at Middlesbrough in recent times for Forshaw but that does not, or at least, should not detract from his ability, especially as a deep-lying, passing midfield player.
Over recent seasons, this type of player has always been needed when teams are looking for automatic promotion. Jonjo Shelvey very often ran games on his own for Newcastle last season while Ruben Neves of Wolves and Tom Huddlestone of Derby very often show off their class in games.
Gone are the days when people believed the Championship was the fastest, most brutal league in England and in fact, it has been proven that classy players can afford themselves time on the ball to be able to pick out their passes.
His pass completion rate of 87.5% since joining Leeds has taken them to another level in that part of the field and the longer term benefits of having him in the squad will be the subsequent improvement of players like Ronaldo Vieira and Kalvin Phillips.