Leeds eye ‘incredible’ £15m star and can finally correct the failure of 2019 under Marcelo Bielsa

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Leeds United are supposedly one of the clubs in the race for a Championship star and if they get a deal done, can finally remove any regret of failing to sign him under Marcelo Bielsa in 2019.

Heading into the 2024-25 campaign, Leeds and The 49ers have plenty of work to do when it comes to incoming signings. The club have waved goodbye to a whole host of players in the last few weeks.

Six players have been sold, four have left on loan and plenty more have left the club after their contract expires. It leaves Leeds with a thin squad, only adding Brenden Aaronson, Alex Cairns and Joe Rothwell.

More are expected to leave and an argument could be made for most positions in the squad to be strengthened in the transfer market. One area though that Leeds are well-equipped, is centre-forward.

• READ MORE: Sammie Szmodics says Leeds have a player 10 times better than him

Leeds want £20m-rated striker but face plenty of competition

Leeds have Patrick Bamford, Joel Piroe, Mateo Joseph and Joe Gelhardt. Four solid options, but perhaps none of that quartet boasts the added quality or fire power to push Leeds towards the Premier League.

Piroe was good in glimpses, Bamford remains injury prone and Gelhardt was largely left out in the cold last season. Joseph is seen as the one that could be given the responsibility of starting next campaign.

But there is a train of thought that Leeds need a better striker and there aren’t many better at this level than Blackburn’s Sammie Szmodics. Leeds are battling the likes of Celtic for Szmodics, rated at £15m.

In 2019, Leeds tried to sign Sammie Szmodics from Colchester

Five years ago, a report from the Bristol Post said that Leeds tried to sign 28-year-old Szmodics. He had scored 15 goals and laid on nine assists in League One, largely playing as an attacking midfielder.

A move that would have seen Szmodics join a side that had just suffered defeat in the Championship play offs under Marcelo Bielsa, and would then win The Championship a year later, but a move didn’t happen.

Five years on and Leeds are interested in signing Szmodics again, even if he would cost a whole lot more. Darragh MacAnthony says his arrival would send Leeds up to the Premier League, and he’s not wrong.