Leeds United: Multi-million pound sale could have been a disaster but it worked out fine in the end - View | OneFootball

Kemar Roofe had enjoyed a very successful time at Oxford United before his move to Leeds United.

Registering 17 goals and 10 assists in League Two during the 2015/16 campaign, he then made two steps up the football pyramid to join the Whites back in the summer of 2016.

At that point, Leeds were still under the guidance of Massimo Cellino, who endured a fairly turbulent time at Elland Road.

Managerial turnover was high in the years that preceded Roofe's arrival in West Yorkshire but the 2016/17 campaign, the striker's first season at Leeds, was a fairly successful one.

That isn't a surprise considering the calibre of players that the Whites had at their disposal, with Ronaldo Vieira breaking through and Chris Wood shining.

The latter scored 27 league goals during that campaign and 30 in all competitions.

Roofe, in contrast, only scored four league goals but also managed to register six assists, which isn't a bad record for a player who needed to adapt to life in the Championship after previously spending time in the fourth tier.

Kemar Roofe's success at Leeds United

After a fairly average first campaign at Elland Road, Roofe had to step up and be the Whites' main goalscoring asset following the departure of Wood, who was sold to Burnley.

That, however, wasn't going to be an easy task with Garry Monk leaving the club during the same summer and new owner Andrea Radrizzani coming in.

But the ex-Oxford man was a shining star during a mixed campaign for the Whites, who struggled under Thomas Christiansen at times and also his successor Paul Heckingbottom.

They had shown some promise under Christiansen during the 2017/18 campaign and were even competing at the top end of the division during the early stages of that season.

Roofe was partly responsible for this - and even managed to score a hat-trick away at Queens Park Rangers in the December.

There wasn't much optimism at the end of that season - but Marcelo Bielsa's arrival changed everything.

His appointment was seen as a major coup considering his experience and the fact that Leeds were still in the second tier - and it always looked as though Roofe was going to benefit from the Argentine's arrival.

He was just as prolific during the 2018/19 season on paper - and was particularly good from the start of that term up until mid-January.

Unfortunately, the goals dried up for him after that and his time on the sidelines during the latter stages of the campaign wouldn't have helped, but he could have scored more than he did.

He did pop up at an important time in the play-off semi-final first leg against Derby County though, scoring at Pride Park and guiding the Whites to a 1-0 win in that clash.

Unfortunately for Bielsa's side, they capitulated in the second leg and Roofe ended up moving on to Belgian side Anderlecht during the summer of 2019, for around £7m.

Kemar Roofe's Leeds United departure didn't turn out to be a disaster

There was a lot of emotion during the 2019 play-off semi-final between Leeds and Derby, with 'spygate' increasing this emotion.

And after the first leg, Leeds were the firm favourites to secure a place in the play-off final, and would have had a good chance of winning at Wembley under Bielsa despite the fact Aston Villa would have been their opponents.

To lose the second leg and the tie was a massive blow and that, combined with Roofe's departure, could have led to the West Yorkshire outfit's potential decline.

It wouldn't have been a shock if they had endured a less successful 2019/20 season, with Pontus Jansson also departing during the summer of 2019 and Jack Clarke also being sold before being loaned back.

But their utilisation of the loan market was spot on, with Jack Harrison and Ben White, as well as Ilan Meslier who was also an excellent asset following his temporary move from Lorient.

Eddie Nketiah was unable to shine, but Patrick Bamford stepped up to the plate in Roofe's place and quite frankly, Bielsa made the most of what he had.

Although the likes of Harrison, White and Kalvin Phillips were all excellent players to have at a second-tier level, Bielsa played a huge part in guiding the club back to the Premier League after years of disappointment.

The fact the Whites were promoted back to the top level reinforces the fact Leeds were able to cope with Roofe's departure, even though he made a great impact during his time at Elland Road.

They weren't just promoted, they .