Leeds United and Sunderland make move to sign Atletico Madrid player on a free transfer

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Leeds United’s pursuit of a new left-back has taken another twist on Wednesday as a new name has been touted with a move to Elland Road, after reports of talks for Aston Villa’s Alex Moreno.

Junior Firpo is ‘widely anticipated’ to leave Elland Road this summer, with AC Milan and Lyon both in talks to sign The Dominican Republic international. The 28-year-old will see his contract expire on the 30th.

The reason for Firpo’s contract winding down could be simply because Firpo fancies a new challenge, but there is a theory that Leeds would prefer a better option defensively – with Firpo better going forward.

Leeds have been linked with many left-backs this summer, like Ben Davies and Konstantinos Tsimikas. On Tuesday, it was claimed Leeds were in talks for Villa’s Alex Moreno and now, Reinildo Mandava is a target.

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Leeds, Sunderland and Forest make moves to sign Mandava

Mozambique international Mandava is now available on a free transfer and will leave Atletico Madrid after his participation at the Club World Cup. It comes after joining Atleti back in January 2022 from Lille.

Able to play left-back and centre-back, Mandava has clocked up 102 Atleti appearances since his arrival but that would have been a lot more had he not suffered an ACL injury in 2023 under Diego Simeone.

Now, he will leave on a free transfer with Atleti opting not to extend the 31-year-old’s contract. As per Ben Jacobs, Leeds have made an approach for Mandava but so have Sunderland and Nottingham Forest.

Jacobs reported: “Understand Reinildo has received approaches from Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, and Leeds. He also has options in Turkey and Saudi Arabia. He will be a free agent after the Club World Cup.”

Man United wanted to sign Reinildo Mandava just a year ago

Last summer, Mandava was only 15 games into his recovery from an ACL injury and yet, Erik ten Hag wanted to bring him to the Premier League at Man United with Villa also interested, as per The Sun.

However, he stayed put and clocked up a further 29 appearances under Simeone as Atleti finished in third once again behind Real Madrid and Barcelona. Now, Mandava could be on his way to the Premier League.

Interestingly, Mandava would become the first player from Mozambique to play in the Premier League should he join Leeds, Sunderland or Forest this summer. Interest is growing in the versatile defender.