Leeds United target labelled a ‘flop’ with reported £3.5m bid looking like an error already

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With Leeds United just one of many clubs reportedly interested in Aaron Ramsdale, it appears that a third relegation from the Premier League will not prove fatal to the England international’s admittedly dwindling reputation.

Ramsdale has his heart set on a return to the Premier League following Southampton’s catastrophic relegation.

The former Arsenal goalkeeper is available for £25 million too, thanks to a clause in his St Mary’s contract. And while Ramsdale has now suffered the drop with Southampton, Sheffield United and Bournemouth, it appears that Leeds United have little interest in busying themselves with ‘bad omens’.

Simply put, while Ramsdale has hardly excelled this season, few would argue that he is the root cause for any of the relegations on a dramatically varied CV.

Southampton became the first team ever to tumble out of the top-flight after just 31 matches games losing 3-1 at Tottenham Hotspur this month. Across the Channel, Montpellier look destined to become the second club officially relegated this season from Europe’s top-five leagues.

Ramsdale, then, is not the only summer target who may arrive at Elland Road looking to put a traumatic 2024/25 campaign behind him.

Leeds United add Modibo Sagnan and Aaron Ramsdale to summer wishlist

According to reports coming out of France, Leeds are watching Modibo Sagnan ‘closely’.

A well-travelled central defender with enough stamps on his passport to rival Michael Palin, England could be Sagnan’s latest destination after spells in Spain [Real Sociedad], Portugal [Mirandes and Tondela], the Netherlands [Utrecht] and France [Lens and Montpellier].

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LeedsLeeds	42	25	13	4	82	29	53	88
2	BurnleyBurnley	42	24	16	2	57	13	44	88
3	Sheff UtdSheffield Utd	42	26	7	9	57	33	24	83
4	SunderlandSunderland	42	21	13	8	57	38	19	76

New claims suggest Leeds could test the water with a £3.5 million bid for the French-born Mali international. Yet, while Ramsdale clearly still has plenty of admirers with West Ham, Manchester United and more reportedly considering a summer swoop, Sagnan is unlikely to emerge from the wreckage of a humiliating campaign unscathed.

Sagnan is part of a Montpellier side with the second-worst defensive record in Ligue 1. They have only five more points to their name – fifteen – than Ramsdale’s Southampton.

And as La Paillade suffered a tenth successive league loss at the weekend, going down 2-0 at Angers, Sagnan’s performance earned him a less-than-desirable mention in the famously-scathing L’Equipe.

On the day of his 26th birthday, Sagnan’s present was an inclusion in L’Equipe’s Flop of the Week section. Hope you kept the receipt, Modibo.

Though he could have few complaints.

Ligue 1 relegation looms as Montpellier president fumes

Sagnan’s sizeable 6ft 2ins frame counted for little when Esteban Lepaul beat him at the near post to glance Angers ahead inside two minutes.

Goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte then somehow survived an almighty fiasco when Angers missed an open goal after he had lost possession inside his own six-yard box. Though Lecomte was hardly aided by a very ill-advised pass back from Sagnan.

To cap it all off, Lepaul’s second of the afternoon then slipped through Sagnan’s legs as Angers doubled their lead. A truly punishing afternoon for a defender who, should he arrive at Elland Road this summer, will do so with his confidence having taken quite the beating.

Sagnan’s injury, with just 50 minutes on the clock, was the poison-filled icing on top of a rotten cake.

“He was beaten by Lepaul early on for the corner that opened the scoring, and did not particularly distinguish himself thereafter by the quality of his clearances,” L’Equipe write, pulling no punches.

It was down to Montpellier president Laurent Nicollin, though, to deliver the knockout blow at full-time

“There are people who, whatever happens, their relationship with the club is over,” Nicollin fumed. “We will start again on a healthy basis with healthy people, and not people who are there just for their own sake.”

If Sagnan does indeed secure himself a move to a Premier League newcomer this summer, well, the phrase ‘falling upwards’ comes to mind.