Former Leeds United striker Noel Whelan thinks the Whites should invest in a young promising forward in place of Mirco Antenucci next season.

Antenucci, whose brace helped Leeds to beat Bolton Wanderers 2-1 in the Championship at the weekend, will be a free agent after the end of the season.




The Italian was keen to quit Leeds for a return to his homeland during the winter transfer window, but the club vetoed his transfer, owing to Chris Wood’s injury.

Antenucci, who joined the Yorkshire giants from Ternana in 2014, fell down the pecking order at Elland Road behind Wood and Souleymane Doukara.
 


However, Whelan is of the opinion that the 31-year-old possesses qualities that the other strikers at Leeds do not have, which was apparent by his two goals against Bolton.

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But the Englishman thinks Leeds should let go of Antenucci in the summer and snap up a young forward, at the right age, who will be able to bang in 15 to 20 goals per season.

“Mirco Antenucci got both of the goals and the Italian is the only striker at the club at the moment capable of netting the type of goals he scored”, he wrote in his column in the Yorkshire Evening Post.

“He’s that one person that can have that moment of brilliance, that quick thinking and instinct inside the box.

“He has the potential to score those wonder goals out of nothing and that’s what makes him so dangerous.

“Because I don’t think that Souleymane Doukara could, or Lee Erwin, or even Chris Wood and in addition, they are different styles of players to the Italian.

“That’s why he is so important to Leeds and when he’s at it he’s a world beater.

“We know that he is out of contract in the summer and I think he’s got to concentrate on doing his job at the moment for Leeds United.

“We don’t know what his situation is. He might want to [go] back home. It’s something the club have got to look at.

“But I think money would probably be best spent on a younger striker we are going to get three or four years out of, rather than just another season.

“We need to look longer term now and buy some quality that’s at the right age, that is going to give us 15 to 20 goals a season, if not more.

“Use the wages that we would have offered Antenucci to really get someone that is going to make that difference.”