Leeds United are set to sign Jaka Bijol as their second signing of the summer this weekend.
Jaka Bijol’s profile is exactly what Leeds United need more of this summer, given his physicality and box defending are picked out as among his best attributes, as well as Bijol’s insane aerial dominance.
It’s for those reasons and more that we suggested Leeds should look into signing Bijol from Udinese before the genuine links emerged between Bijol and Leeds.
It’s been a drawn out process regarding Bijol, shocking Elland Road officials in the process given how long each step has taken to get a deal over the line.
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Jaka Bijol joins Zan Benedicic as the second Slovenian to play for Leeds
Some late Newcastle interest in Bijol emerged but the reality was Leeds had agreed terms with Bijol already and a deal was a matter of time before it materialised.
Fabrizio Romano revealed a €22 million fee will bring Bijol to Leeds, which is the equivalent of £18.8 million for Leeds. The Italian transfer guru has since given the here we go for the deal.
The giant Slovenian will change shirt number at Leeds from his usual No.29 or No.6 squad number. That’s because Joe Rodon and Willy Gnonto occupy those.
However, the 63-cap international is not the first Slovenian to feature for Leeds. There has been one other to feature for the club back in the 2014/15 season and during the Massimo Cellino era.
They would use the funds from Ross McCormack’s sale to Fulham to put it towards no fewer than 15 signings that summer, and further in the January window, too.
The majority were not domestic-based players, but from Serie A, B, and C. Mirco Antenucci, Souleymane Doukara, Edgar Cani, Giuseppe Bellusci, Marco Silvestri, and Dario Del Fabro were the sicknote six that year.
One other who was not part of that group — and rarely in matchday squads — is Zan Benedicic. He was left on the bench twice that season and played twice as well; those were his only four involvements in the first-team of any kind.
He came off the bench in a 1-0 win over Bolton Wanderers with 12 minutes to go in the league, while playing 24 minutes from the bench in an EFL Cup win against Accrington Stanley.
Leeds fans will hope that Bijol’s impact is far better than what Benedicic served up during an era of odd signings by the club, albeit it’s not exactly a high bar for the 26-year-old to clear.
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Jaka Bijol and Zan Benedicic aren’t the only Slovenians to work for Leeds
Plenty of managers came and went over the years Cellino was in charge at Elland Road, largely thanks to his trigger-happy approach to firing and hiring managers.
Cellino dismissed 36 managers during 22 years in charge of Italian side Cagliari and he parted company with Darko Milanic after just 32 days at the club in the season with Benedicic.
The Slovenian was appointed on 23 September but failed to win any of his six games in charge. Leeds were left 18th in the Championship and five points above the relegation zone after both he and Dave Hockaday lasted only six matches.
Milanic’s reign is the shortest of any permanent manager in Leeds’ history, beating the joint record of Brian Clough and Jock Stein — who each lasted 44 days in charge.
Now 57, Milanic managed Maribor in Slovenia for nine seasons either side of his Leeds stint; they are the most successful side in the country.
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