James Justin arrives to give Leeds defensive cover
Tuesday, 26th Aug 2025 17:13 by Tim Whelan
The official Leeds website has confirmed that we have completed the James Justin from Leicester City for an initial £8million, which could rise to £10m with the inevitable potential add-ons. Justin operates primarily as a right back, but can also fill in on the left if need be.
The 27 year-old has played 169 times for Leicester since he joined them from his native Luton in 2019, including their first two Championship games, but the midlands club needed to trim their wage bill following their relegation last season. A 6 foot tall and with a history of injury problems, he fits the profile of most of our signings of this transfer window.
99 of his Leicester appearances were in the Premier League, and he has also tasted the delights of the Europa League, after being part of the Leicester side who finished 5th in 2020 and won the FA Cup the following season. And he has one solitary England cap, which he earned in a Nations League game in Budapest in 2022.
As with all our signings, he was sounding positive when he was interviewed by LUTV. “Obviously to join a club of this size and to have the history it has had, and being back in the Premier League was a massive thing for me, so I'm over the moon to have joined. Everyone that I've spoken to about the club and the area has had great things to say about it. So I'm excited to join the lads and get to work.”
“The stadium has obviously got one of the best atmospheres in world football. And it's always a daunting task to come here as an opposing team, but I'm happy to have the fans behind me this time. Hopefully I can put on the shirt in front of the fans and show them what I can do, if selected, and hopefully I can train up until then to get myself ready as possible.”
The “if selected” part of his comments indicate an acceptance that Bogle is likely to remain as first choice in his preferred position, but we need options to provide defensive cover as and when that is needed. But what sort of player are we getting for our money?
He struggled last season when an abysmal Leicester were relegated straight back to the Championship, but it didn’t help that Van Nistelrooy’s tactics required him to push forward, only to be horribly exposed every time they lost the ball. Which was quite often.
The consensus of Leicester fans social media seems to be that he isn’t the player he was before his two ACL injuries, but at least he is showing signs of starting to recover. It might be a concern that at least four of our summer signings have had fitness problems in the recent past, but if can continue to build up his strength it sounds like we’ve got a decent player for the amount we’ve paid.
Justin’s arrival means that Isaac Schmidt will be on his way, and according to Mike McGrath of the Daily Telegraph we are in discussion with Werder Bremen about a possible £3m transfer. We were looking to offload Schmidt even when we were looking for cover in the full back positions, so clearly Daniel Farke didn’t think was good enough to provide that cover in the Premier League.
Schmidt only played 78 minutes of league football since he arrived 12 months ago, and although he looked half decent whenever he did get the chance, there were suggestions that Farke wasn’t impressed with his attitude on the training ground. With the World Cup taking place next summer Schmidt needs first team football to secure his place in the Swiss side, so a move will suit all parties.
There may well be further news before the transfer window finally shuts, so watch this space.
_Reuters_
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