Leeds United and Newcastle United’s interest in £26m star remains, may ‘return’ with January bid

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Leeds United and Newcastle United were just two of many Premier League clubs eyeing a move for a new striker in the summer, but for very different reasons.

Newcastle, of course, had to replace the loss of Alexander Isak. They eventually did so by spending a fee of £125m for Isak on two signings. German giant Nick Woltemade and Brentford attacker Yoane Wissa.

Leeds also brought in two new strikers, in the form of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha. But they lost Patrick Bamford, Mateo Joseph and Joe Gelhardt, leaving them in need of more attacking options.

Harry Wilson was targeted on the final day of the window, but Leeds fans wanted a striker and one option throughout the summer was Roma’s powerhouse forward Artem Dovbyk, a year after joining AS Roma.

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Leeds and Newcastle remain interested in £26m Serie A attacker

Initial reports suggested Leeds had held initial talks for Dovbyk, with Roma seemingly willing to cash in on the Ukraine star after just one season with the Serie A giants. Dovbyk joined Roma from Girona for £26m.

It comes after winning the La Liga golden boot in 2023-24. But fans are unconvinced, and new signing Evan Ferguson has overtaken the Leeds target in Roma’s pecking order under boss Gian Piero Gasperini.

However, Dovbyk remains at Roma and the window is now shut. According to Corriere Giallorosso, both Leeds and Newcastle remain interested in luring Dovbyk to the Premier League in the January window.

What Robbie Evans said about possible signings in January

Managing director Robbie Evans spoke about the club’s transfer window earlier this week, with the mantra clear. A good window, but failure to sign Harry Wilson from Fulham, proved to be a bad end.

Evans said Leeds are not planning to do anything in January: “Our goal is to avoid January, if possible. So there’s a reason we didn’t do a big thing in January last year or the year. The goal is to be done early.”

With everyone fit and playing at their best, this Leeds squad can stay up. But a lot of players, especially those who joined, are injury-prone, and Leeds will need to enter the market in January, when it arrives.