Malik Wilks

[tyke1962]

Hearing from a very good source at Oakwell that we are hoping to bring the lad in from Leeds Utd on a permanent deal .

I've seen Malik on several occasions last season against ourselves and in the play offs and he looks to have a load of potential .

However I've obviously not seen him every week like you guys have .

Do you think he can step up to the championship ?

The club have given Stendel a sizeable budget , by our standards at least , we could go to £2m , had a bid of that size turned down by Motherwell for their young prospect David Turnbull so it's possible .

What would be a realistic fee to pay for the lad ?

Is there any possibility of this deal getting done ?

Would appreciate your comments guys , thanks in advance .

[vaya]

He's up in court on July 1st charged with violent disorder and assault.

He might not be playing for anyone next season.

[keith79]

When he wants to play he is unplayable. But he he can not be arsed we bring him off for Alfie may.

[Filo]

He’s contracted to Leeds until 2022, you’ll do well to get him for £2M

[Jonathan]

He would be a superb signing for any ambitious club that gives young players a chance. So if I was a Barnsley fan and there was a realistic chance of this then I would be very excited by it.

He’s an enigma, and there are times he goes missing, but it’s worth that risk because when he’s on his game he’s absolutely unplayable. Physically one of the most powerful forwards I’ve seen, he had a strange way of running that is deceptively quick and just bulldozes people out of the way. And he scores goals. I think he can be a top player if he’s managed properly and given the support and encouragement.

As a Rovers fan I’ll be a bit gutted if this happens. He’s one of those players that I’d have liked to see us push the boat out for if there was any chance of Leeds letting him go permanently as his future resale value could be massive, and he clearly loved it here. But, as much as it pains me to say it, realistically we can’t offer him what Barnsley can right now and it’s as simple as that really.

I’ll add that it would surprise me if Leeds didn’t give him any kind of a chance at all.

[Chris Black come back]

What is missed above is that he has a very good cross on him and while 2/3 of his dribbles ends up in losing possession, 1/3 is through skill and force of will a joy to behold.

Also, five digits on each of his hands so not sure how that would go down at Oakwell.

[Dare to dream!]

Wilks is a great player but he has a very specific style of play. I personally don’t think he would suit a Barnsley team who play build up football.

He needs to be in a team that plays quick, wide and counter attacking football.

[selby]

  I will be very surprised, unless you offer a ridiculous fee for the lad, he is not playing in the Leeds first team against you next season, and if he does as well for Leeds as he did for us last season, by January much bigger teams than either you or Weeds will be interested in him playing at a higher level.
  Barnsley offering any fee near two million pounds alone, I would think would alert even the numskulls at Weeds that they could well have a special player on their hands.

[tyke1962]

The court case does cast a bit of a shadow I have to say but then again your innocent till proven guilty so I'll park that for now .

Looking at the fee we've just landed Luke Thomas from Derby County for £1.2m , Luke was on loan at Coventry last season and did very well and he's the same age as Malik , I'd suspect we'd possibly value Malik  at the same price as Luke and the two are very comparable , both from big championship clubs on loan in league one , both doing well and the same age .

I'm not certain we'd want to pay anymore than that , the lad at Motherwell is 19 years old and the hottest young property in Scotland having just won the Scottish young player of the year award and 15 goals from midfield , Celtic had a bid accepted of £3.25M but it's fallen through on personal terms .

In my mind £2m is one hell of a gamble for a kid with one year in league one under his belt on our budget at Championship level .

These kind of signings for us need to hit the championship ground running .

[Bessie Red]

To be honest I think he will be a regular feature in the Leeds match day squad next season. I don't think they will sell him to another Championship team when they have just extended his contract. If he goes he will most likely go to a low end Premier team as a squad player.

[graingrover]

He is the sort of young guy who will need a firm but fair disciplinarian manager .Grant both grounded him and encouraged his aggression and natural instinct to take on opponents man to man ,he loves the close dribbles and tussles .
If not properly guided he could really go off  the rails  as he had obviously done before joining us  to have to appear in court to face such grave charges.

[tyke1962]

To be honest I think he will be a regular feature in the Leeds match day squad next season. I don't think they will sell him to another Championship team when they have just extended his contract. If he goes he will most likely go to a low end Premier team as a squad player.

It's a funny one is this with the big championship clubs and their young talent .

The Derby fans in general were none too pleased about selling Thomas to ourselves and the feeling is it may come back to bite them .

They of course are looking to get in to the PL , desperate for it and seem to want to bin their own talent in favour of bringing in the Harry Wilson's and Mounts on loan from the big PL clubs .

Going on that basis and the record we have of developing young talent Wilkes as Thomas has may conclude he's better grabbing an opportunity with us rather than at Leeds where a couple of poor games gets you out of the picture with the stakes at a higher level .

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming weeks .

Many thanks for the comments guys , much appreciated as always .

[1879Rovers]

I have been told by someone who takes in their academy players to lodge that the deal to Barnsley is all done and dusted.

[tyke1962]

I have been told by someone who takes in their academy players to lodge that the deal to Barnsley is all done and dusted.

Just banked £2m plus this morning , Liam Lindsay is off to Stoke City .

[Rovers91]

Be a very good signing, would be even better if he could use his right foot. Surprised the lad didn't get a nose bleed when he did that right footed cross in play offs but on his day he is class and will only get better.

[Drover]

If I was in charge at Leeds,I would be looking at a season/jan window long loan at a championship club as the next step for Wilkes,presuming he was not planned to play for Leeds first team regular next season.I would not want to sell just yet?But then again,Im not,so who knows.Will be interested to see what does happen.

[jackthelad]

Very good player but still definitely got a lot to learn, sometimes he is unplayable.

I think he is deserving of a chance at the championship next season and let’s see how he goes from there. I do hope he gets a opportunity. 
He is nowhere near ready to play or be in a premiership squad however as some others have suggested.

It may all be irrelevant however depending on how his court case pans out in July.

[Campsall rover]

Don’t think he would have any problem playing at Championship level.
He is a bit of a one trick pony at times and is reluctant to use his right foot when he should be doing because he can use it.
It is his sheer physicality & strength that takes him past defenders.

Yes if Leeds are prepared to sell then imo it would be crazy not to buy him if the fee & his wages fits in with the budget.

He is only 20 yrs old, so what a prospect he is.
If he has the desire then he can only improve under a manager who knows how to get the best out of him.

I wish we could keep him but my guess is Leeds may well have him in their squad next season and he will be going nowhere.
Unless he goes down after his trial of course.

[elmsallrover]

Think it depends on what Leeds want next season if new owners come in and the Premier leagues a must I don't think he will get a lookin at Elland road

[graingrover]

Would Leeds really loan him out to a rival Championship club ..crazy.

[Campsall rover]

Would Leeds really loan him out to a rival Championship club ..crazy.

I agree i don’t think they would hence he will either be up for sale or more likely will be staying at Leeds and be in the 1st team squad.

[Drover]

Would Leeds really loan him out to a rival Championship club ..crazy.

Not really,just need to have a not play against Leeds clause in the contract.

[drfchound]

It would be bad business though if his goals secured his new team a play off place at the expense of Leeds.

[DRNaith]

It would be bad business though if his goals secured his new team a play off place at the expense of Leeds.

About par for the course with Leeds though

[tyke1962]

To be honest I don't think either Leeds or Derby see ourselves as any threat to them , a bit like you selling a young kid who can't get in your team to let's say Southend or Gillingham with all due respect to them .

We let Kayden Jackson leave for Accrington two seasons ago and nobody thought twice about it , he subsequently moved to Ipswich for a million quid but because we had Moore and Woodrow and the team did well last season again nobody was too bothered .

These bigger clubs have different agendas to both ourselves as we did last season in league one .

[dickos1]

I think wilks would be one of these deals that the board have spoken about previously similar to sharp. A big initial outlay but one that eventually they would make money on. And would certainly give us a greater chance of achieving promotion.
I’d imagine it’s been brought up in a meeting along the line this summer.
And would be a great signing for us

[godlike1]

I think wilks would be one of these deals that the board have spoken about previously similar to sharp. A big initial outlay but one that eventually they would make money on. And would certainly give us a greater chance of achieving promotion.
I’d imagine it’s been brought up in a meeting along the line this summer.
And would be a great signing for us

well unless GM is keeping his cards close to his chest (something he verbally doe not really do) then I would say Wilks will not be playing for Rovers next season. Barnsley would not be a bad shout, but he is a player who needs a lot of guidance and support. would Barnsley's manager do that?.........................im not so sure