Leeds United will be hoping to emulate Nottingham Forest’s recent success in the Premier League, though first they need to secure promotion from the Championship.
After losing the Championship play-off final against Southampton last season, Leeds United are now looking for revenge in the form of promotion via the automatic places.
Last time out, Leeds United beat Preston 2-1 to remain in 1st place of the table with four games to go, now moving five points ahead of Sheffield United in 3rd with Burnley in 2nd level on points with Daniel Farke’s side.
A win against Oxford United on Friday would be a huge step towards promotion for the Whites. But Gary Rowett is looking to cause an upset and his Oxford United side beating Leeds would certainly be that.
But as Leeds United edge closer to the Premier League we’re seeing more and more players being linked with summer moves to Elland Road, with several of Farke’s January targets likely to come back into the question.
Names like Cameron Archer and Emi Buendia are summer targets for Leeds United, and Eduard Spertsyan could be too.
Leeds United target Eduard Spertsyan rejects Nottingham Forest move
Spertsyan was linked with Leeds United during the January transfer window, and he’s another player known to Farke who worked with the Armenian attacking midfielder at Krasnodar previously. The latest on the 24-year-old is that Nottingham Forest has been proposed as a potential destination but Spertsyan and his agent, Rafaela Pimenta, aren’t interested.
Armenie Football relay the news that Spertsyan, an Armenian international, has ‘rejected the option with the English club [Forest] for certain reasons’. It comes just a couple of months after it was revealed that Spertsyan is open to joining Leeds United ahead of the summer transfer window.
Spertsyan has so far scored seven and assisted four more in 22 Russian Premier League games for Krasnodar this season, with his side chasing the league title.
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Eduard Spertsyan shares same agent as Erling Haaland and Arne Slot
Pimenta is a big name in the football agents game, representing Erling Haaland at Manchester City along with Spertsyan, who is one of her biggest clients too.
A former lawyer, Pimenta represents 44 players in total along with Liverpool manager Arne Slot, with some of her clients including Manchester United duo Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui.
Though why she and Spertsyan have rejected Nottingham Forest remains to be seen. It could be because of fears over game time or even because the pair are holding out for a better deal elsewhere.
Either way, it seems like – on the surface at least – good news for Leeds United.
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