It’s getting to that time of season when rumours of all kinds begin to take shape, take flight and continue to soar. It doesn’t take much to cause this phenomenon to start.
A ‘sighting’ here or an ‘Instagram follow’ there is enough to get supporters all het up and onto Twitter commenting on who the next through the door is. For Leeds United fans, torn apart by news that Pontus Jansson was leaving in a cut-price £5.5million deal, some good news was desperately needed.
That came via a supposed sighting at Leeds’ Thorp Arch and a report in a local newspaper – The Star. Adding all this up and it suddenly became known that Rotherham’s Semi Ajayi was apparently the next man in through the door at Elland Road.
The 25-year-old Crayford-born centre-back shone for Rotherham in what was a relegation season where there was more dulled than was gleaming. The Nigerian international, who spent time on the books at Arsenal after arriving as a £450,000 buy, arrived at the South Yorkshire club in 2017 from Cardiff.
He featured as a 46-game ever-present last season for the Millers, ending as their joint-top scorer with seven goals. His incerasingly confident displays saw many observers think that a Championship side would come calling for him. However, the rumour that linked Leeds United to him has been rubbished by reporter Paul Davis (Twitter – below), who writes for the Rotherham Advertiser.
I’m led to believe Semi Ajayi is at the #rufc training ground as today. I’m led to believe this by my own eyes because at this precise moment I’m parked right next to him in the Roundwood car-park. He’s trained as normal. #lufc.
— Paul Davis (@paulm_davis) July 8, 2019
That tongue-in-cheek tweet, laced with sarcasm, pretty much scotched and rubbished any notions that Leeds United fans might have had that linked Ajayi to Elland Road. That dismissal was followed up a whie later with two tweets, in close succession, that hammered in a further two nails in this particular transfer coffin (below).
Semi Ajayi due to fly to Germany this evening with the rest of the #rufc squad. #lufc.
— Paul Davis (@paulm_davis) July 8, 2019
I think you’ve worked this out by now, but just to confirm … there has been no #lufc medical for #rufc’s Semi Ajayi.
— Paul Davis (@paulm_davis) July 8, 2019
That pretty much dispels any thoughts that Ajayi is about to be announced as part of Leeds United’s new kit unveiling that is scheduled for tomorrow. That is not to say that the Whites won’t be bringning him to the club; it just means that this will not be something that is done in the short term.
