Leeds United now want to sign international centre-back who has scored in Europe this season

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Leeds United could enter the market for a centre-back this month if Charlie Cresswell leaves.

Cresswell is unhappy at Elland Road due to his lack of game time so far this season, having played just a single minute of football since the Carabao Cup defeat at Salford City in August.

Leeds are already said to have turned down multiple offers from clubs for the 21-year-old, but the expectation is he will depart. An asking price of around £5 million has been touted.

Should he depart, Leeds are likely to be on the lookout for another central defender and there is a new name to add to the list with KRC Genk’s Mark McKenzie said to be a target.

According to Voetbal Nieuws, Leeds, Brighton, West Ham United, Everton and a Bundesliga club are all interested in the 24-year-old, but Genk could command a fee in excess of £8.5 million.

Leeds interested in Genk’s McKenzie

McKenzie is a 13-time capped United States international, with his most recent appearance coming back in September during a 4-0 win over Oman, in which Leeds loanee Brenden Aaronson was on the scoresheet.

He has made 23 appearances for Genk so far this season, four of which came in the Europa Conference League group stages, where he netted a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw against Fiorentina.

The report states that anyone looking to do a deal can expect a tough period of negotiations, as Genk’s Head of Football Dimitri de Conde – who was linked with Leeds in the summer – wants to keep their best players.

McKenzie is not the first Genk player Leeds have been linked with over the last few months, having also come close to signing Joseph Paintsil in the summer.

Leeds are said to be primarily targeting the Premier League loan market this month so it would be a surprise to see them splash this sort of cash in a position where they are very strong.

However, clearly McKenzie is a player with decent potential and so it will be interesting to see if there are any developments on his future in the coming weeks.