Leeds United have made some significant blunders in the transfer market in their not-so-distant past, forking out colossal sums of money to then unfortunately be greeted with a dud when he arrives in West Yorkshire.
The circus that was Massimo Cellino’s time owning the Whites was notorious for misfire after misfire when a transfer window opened, with notable flops such as Giuseppe Bellusci and Mirco Antenucci among others often joining from Cellino’s native Italy who would never settle or succeed in England.
Away from the laughable nature of Cellino’s time owning the Championship giants, another of Leeds’ now ex-owners in Andrea Radrizzani was also at fault for a lot of failures in the market when he was partly responsible for deals in and out of the club, including this dud joining from the Netherlands back in 2017.
Jay-Roy Grot’s time at Leeds
Jay-Roy Grot would join the ranks at Elland Road seven years ago as a left-field purchase, entering the building as a relative unknown entity from Dutch second-division outfit NEC Nijmegen.
It’s not as if Grot was setting the world alight in the Netherlands either, managing a lacklustre six goals for his former side from 35 games, before embarking on a new adventure moving to the tough demands of the EFL.
He would really struggle getting up to speed with what was expected of him in a Leeds shirt, unable to put his intimidating 6 foot 4 frame to good use in the second tier, with only one meagre goal coming his way from 21 Whites appearances.
Assessing his dire debut season situated at Leeds, when glancing at WhoScored numbers from the 2017/18 campaign for the Dutchman, Grot would come in as having the worst average rating in the division per clash, standing at a very low 6.13/10.
Five worst-rated players in the Championship – 17/18 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Games | Goals | Assists | Average rating | |
1. Jay-Roy Grot | 20 | 1 | 1 | 6.13 | |
2. Aaron Wilbraham | 23 | 2 | 1 | 6.23 | |
3. Jamie Allen | 29 | 1 | 0 | 6.23 | |
4. Freddie Sears | 36 | 2 | 0 | 6.23 | |
5. Ryan Hedges | 23 | 2 | 1 | 6.27 | |
Sourced by WhoScored | |||||
As can be seen looking at the table above, Grot seriously underwhelmed during his debut season, leading to Leeds selling on their dreadful buy to German outfit VfL Osnabrück in 2021.
It’s not as if Grot has managed to pick up the pieces since having his reputation damaged at Elland Road, with the now 26-year-old attacker playing out in Japan and struggling once more.
Grot’s struggles since leaving Leeds
The one-time NEC forward hasn’t been able to find a fixed home since his whirlwind stint in England, playing all across the globe in Germany, Denmark and now all the way out in Japan with Kashiwa Reysol.
Grot hasn’t managed to become the potent goalscorer his Tokyo-based side would have wanted him to be either, with only three strikes registered from 26 games to date pulling on a Reysol strip.
Comical misses like the one above, after he had managed to capitalise on an error by the opposition goalkeeper, haven’t exactly helped his cause at Reysol, as his woes at Leeds continue to haunt him to this day.
Leeds supporters in the here and now will hope purchases from Europe this window in the form of Largie Ramazani and Ao Tanaka, to name a few, aren’t immortalised down the line as folding in their new location like Grot, but seen instead as stellar new acquisitions.
Regardless of what happens now with this new batch of players, Grot is definitely viewed as one of the worst players in recent memory to wear Leeds white, and a considerable stain on Radrizzani’s bumpy time at the club.
