Amid the flurry of new signings arriving at Leeds United, there looks set to be one player sale in the very near future.
Leeds United have now signed six new players this summer. This week, the club completed the £17m deal to sign Anton Stach from Hoffenheim, who arrives shortly after Sean Longstaff sealed a £15m move from Newcastle United.
The new players now at Elland Road include the likes of Stach and Longstaff, as well as Lukas Nmecha, Jaka Bijol, Sebastiaan Bornauw, and Gabriel Gudmundsson.
As Leeds United gear up to take on Everton in their season opener on August 18th, Daniel Farke looks as though he’s working hard on more new signings, with the focus now seemingly turning to the attack.
But the attacking department could well see Mateo Joseph leave in the near future. It’s rumoured that Joseph has handed in a transfer request at Leeds United, amid a lack of game time last season which saw him start just 11 games in the Championship.
Lee Hendrie weighs in on Mateo Joseph saga at Leeds United
Already this summer, Joseph has been linked with a move to Real Betis. It was even reported earlier in the summer that Leeds United had agreed to sell Joseph for a £9.5m fee, though Betis’ interest in the 21-year-old striker never materialised properly.
It was then claimed that newly-promoted Championship side Birmingham City have an interest in Joseph, and speaking to Football League World, pundit Lee Hendrie has discussed a potential Joseph move to St Andrew’s this summer.
He said: “£10 million I think is a lot of money, there’s no doubt about that, particularly in the Championship. But you do feel that there’s always been a lot of talk of what potential this kid has and what he’s got.
| Stat (Championship) | Mateo Joseph in 24/25 |
| Appearances | 39 |
| Starts | 11 |
| Mins P/G | 33 |
| Goals/Assists | 3/3 |
“So, it does feel that Leeds will not be letting him go for much shorter than that… And obviously the fight to get that number nine shirt, if you like, because I do feel that he needs to play football this season to prove that all this talk of him potentially being a very, very good player, which we’ve seen glimpses of.
“I think it would be a great move for Birmingham. I think the thing is it’s whether he wants to go and really wants to fight, which that’s the problem. I think he’ll want to play football week-in and week-out if he’s moving from Leeds.”
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What’s going on with Mateo Joseph at Leeds United right now?
On Wednesday, Leeds United beat SC Verl in a pre-season friendly. The game ended 4-1 in Leeds’ favour, but Joseph didn’t feature.
In fact, the Spanish under-21 striker remains in England at Thorp Arch training with the Leeds under-21s. Earlier in the summer, Farke revealed that Joseph said he didn’t feel he was ready to play in pre-season friendlies this summer, and speaking soon after it was revealed that Joseph hasn’t travelled to Germany with the squad.
Farke gave his verdict on Joseph’s omission recently, saying: “I’ve spoken openly and honestly with him about the situation and have strongly recommended, until the situation is sorted, he should do the job. Be professional. He said he’s not in the mental state to do this.”
Leeds are set to play another behind-closed-doors friendly on Saturday, and it looks unlikely that Joseph will be joining up with the team in Germany before then.
It does, however, look extremely likely that Joseph will be leaving Elland Road on a permanent basis before the start of the new season in August.
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