Leeds United are reportedly interested in signing out-of-favour Birmingham City goalkeeper David Stockdale, according to a report from the Sunday People (17/11; page 50).

The former Brighton goalkeeper has been on the fringes at Birmingham for the past two seasons, along with a handful of loan spells in League One in that time.

The Leeds-born ‘keeper will be keen to move on in January having not made a Championship appearance since the 2017/18 season and Birmingham will probably be keen to shift him off the wage bill with Lee Camp the current number one at St. Andrew’s.

Leeds will probably be in the market in January for a ‘keeper with Kiko Casilla potentially facing a lengthy ban for an alleged breach of FA Rule E3 in the Charlton game at the end of September.

With this in mind, we take a look at two pros and two cons of the Whites moving for Stockdale in January…

Pro: League experience

The main positive aspect of this prospective transfer is that Leeds would be gaining a player in the dressing room who is very experienced in the Championship and especially at the top end of it.

The main bulk of Stockdale’s appearances in the division came with Brighton and he was part of the side that won promotion to the Premier League in the 2016/17 season, in which he kept 20 clean sheets and conceded 40 goals, a great record over a full season.

Leeds are in a similar position this season with promotion very much expected at Elland Road and it would be a solid addition to the squad to have someone who’s been there and done it.

Con: Lack of momentum

It was clear to see when Leeds signed Kiko Casilla back in January that his performance levels had suffered from a lack of game time in his period at Real Madrid, with very sporadic appearances over his three-and-a-half season at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Stockdale is in a similar position at the moment, having had a long spell as second-choice and not being able to nail down a regular spot at a few clubs, meaning he would be coming to Leeds having to build up his momentum again.

Casilla has come into his own this season and it was obvious from his arrival that he had quality, but it took time for him to find his feet in West Yorkshire, as would be the case for Stockdale if he signed.

Pro: He’s English

One major pro to Stockdale coming into the squad is that he speaks English, so would eliminate any language barrier currently present in the defence.

Casilla has been tremendous in goal this season but a few mistakes have come this season and last clearly stemming from communication problems with his defence. The most notable being the calamity with Liam Cooper that handed Derby a lifeline in the play-off semi-final last season, which the Whites ended up losing.

With Stockdale in goal, Leeds would gain a commanding ‘keeper who can communicate with his defence effectively, solving issues from set-pieces that have plagued the side this season.

Con: It’s a downgrade

Even though Stockdale is a solid goalkeeper when in the form he is capable of, it should be noted that Kiko Casilla is undoubtedly capable of more, having shown it across an illustrious career.

Casilla is statistically the league’s best goalkeeper currently with just nine goals conceded and eight clean sheets, it would be hard to replace him in January without getting someone in of less quality. 

Stockdale is currently firmly second-choice at Birmingham behind Lee Camp and it doesn’t seem logical for a promotion-chasing side to sign a backup goalkeeper from someone lower down the table to come in as the number one.