Leeds United have £3.3m offer rejected for international midfielder, but they’re ready to bid again

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Leeds United are in the market for another central midfielder this summer.

Daniel Farke confirmed as such after Leeds’ 4-1 pre-season friendly win over Hannover on Wednesday, naming both that and full-back as the positions he wants to address.

Leeds have already brought in Joe Rothwell during the window and he has impressed during his two outings in a white shirt so far.

However, Leeds have lost both Glen Kamara and Archie Gray from last season’s squad and so Farke is a man light in terms of his midfield options heading into the new season.

A more attack-minded number eight is believed to be on the agenda, as Farke looks to add more goals to an area that provided none in the league last term.

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Leeds want Koln star Dejan Ljubičić

Farke has used his Bundesliga contacts before to bring players to Leeds having signed Ilia Gruev from Werder Bremen almost 12 months ago.

He also came close to the addition of Nadiem Amiri from Bayer Leverkusen, though that deal ended up falling through at the final hurdle.

And now according to Bild, Farke is ready to return to Germany again in Leeds‘ pursuit of a new central midfielder.

It is said that Leeds have made a £3.3 million offer for FC Koln’s Dejan Ljubičić, which has been rejected by the club’s managing director Christian Keller.

Koln are keen to keep Ljubičić for the upcoming season having actually been relegated from the Bundesliga earlier this year, with the 26-year-old making 27 appearances.

However, Ljubičić has just 12 months remaining on his current deal at Koln and is said to have no intention of signing a new one, with Leeds already preparing a second bid.

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Who is Leeds target Dejan Ljubičić?

Ljubičić is a nine-time capped Austrian international who has a plethora of experience under his belt at Bundesliga level.

He has made 83 appearances in the top-flight of German football during his time for Koln, scoring eight goals and providing four assists during that period.

Ljubičić also has experience of playing European football, having played in the Champions League (qualifying), Europa League and Conference League.

Despite his decent goal-scoring return, Ljubičić is not necessarily the attack-minded midfield eight Leeds fans may have had in mind.