Leeds United could add a Champions League forward to their ranks this summer, in what could be an exciting summer window for the Whites.
Leeds United are back in the big time after a two-year hiatus in the Championship, after Daniel Farke steered the club to the Championship title in dramatic fashion.
At one stage Leeds United had dropped down into 3rd place of the table. But the Whites won their final six games of the season, including a 2-1 win away at Plymouth Argyle on the final day to lift the title ahead of Burnley.
- Every player linked with Leeds in the transfer window: Latest fees and news on Daniel Farke’s targets
Attentions have rapidly turned towards the summer window now. For teams in the Premier League, the summer transfer window will open on June 1st, and there’s plenty of names for Leeds fans to start keeping track of.
Particularly there’s a growing number of attacking names mentioned alongside Elland Road with Patrick Bamford looking likely to leave, leaving just Joel Piroe and Mateo Joseph up top for Farke.
One such player mentioned is Daizen Maeda.
Daizen Maeda fails to rule out Celtic exit amid Leeds United transfer links
It’s been reported that Leeds United are interested in signing Maeda, 27, who’s enjoying a stunning season with Celtic. The Scottish giants reached the Round of 16 in this season’s Champions League with Japanese international Maeda scoring four in nine in the competition, also boasting 16 goals and 10 assists in 33 league games.
And speaking about his future, Maeda has failed to rule out the possibility of a summer exit, with Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers trying to extend his contract beyond 2027. Maeda told The Herald: “This is a world where you never know what’s going to happen next. This a good team but I need to think about what comes next with my family and the gaffer and everything. Now my focus is on this team.
“I’m not thinking [about it] a lot right now because there’s still games to play. I’m thinking about how I’ll spend my day off! So, we’ll just get the games done and then let’s see what happens.”
Brendan Rodgers hints at Celtic’s stance on Daizen Maeda this summer
It’s been claimed that Celtic would command up to £25million for Maeda this summer, and that they’d find it very hard to turn down an offer so high.
Speaking recently, Rodgers spoke about potential player sales at Celtic this summer, hinting that the club would be open to offers for their players such as Maeda who could become hot property in the summer.
Rodgers said: “We all know fine well here there is a player trading model. That means we will probably get offers for some of our players in the summer. If that happens, then we have to be flexible and ready to adapt to that.”
With Celtic looking open to a sale and Maeda not ruling out the possibility, it leaves the door open for Leeds United to potentially make their move. But it’d surely prove to be a costly pursuit with Celtic not exactly needing to sell Maeda, given his contract situation.
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