Leonard Ngenge shows why Leeds United are about to sign him as outrageous footage emerges

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It appears that, even with two months of the season still to go, Leeds United have already secured their first signing of the summer transfer window.

Those well-connected in social media circles could have seen this one coming, though.

While Leeds are being linked with the likes of Edouard Spertsyan, Pavel Sulc, Emi Buendia and Tammy Abraham – four reported transfer targets who could all claim to improve Daniel Farke’s starting XI – summer addition number one appears to be an 17-year-old central defender of serious potential.

Leonard Ngenge sort of gave the game away himself at the start of March. The teenage Nigerian posted a photo of himself wearing a Leeds United shirt on his official Instagram page.

Thanks to Wale Quadri, the sporting director of Ikorodu City, confirmation of Ngenge’s impending switch to Leeds United became public knowledge a few days later.

Leeds United have agreed to sign Nigeria starlet Leonard Ngenge

Quadri confirms that Ngenge will officially become a Leeds player when he turns 18 over the summer.

“Ngenge has an existing deal with Leeds United. It’s a pre-contract,” the director said. “By August, he should be joining Leeds.”

Ngenge has actually been on trial at Thorp Arch already. Impressing enough, it seems, to earn himself a spot in Leeds’ youth teams from next season onwards.

“He was scouted in Nigeria and then invited to Leeds for further training,” Quadri adds. He came back like two weeks ago from Leeds.

“He is being signed as a player for the future. They are waiting for him to turn 18 years old.”

Ngenge may be only 17 but, what he lacks in experience, he makes up for in talent. The teenager has played 18 first-team games for Ikorodu City this season. He scored his first senior goal against FC Heartland in the Nigerian Professional Football League a fortnight ago too.

Ngenge followed that up as well with a maiden assist and a Man of the Match award as Ikorodu City defeated Lobi Stars 1-0 in his most recent outing.

And what an assist it was.

As the ball ran loose around 30 yards out from his own goal, Ngenge charged into midfield and drove forwards. Turning on the afterburners, the rangy central defender than breezed through two Lobi Stars players with ease.

And, after drawing the visiting goalkeeper off his line, Ngenge had the composure and the vision to roll a simple pass across the box for a team mate to tap home.

Ngenge is a defender but ‘loves to join the attack’

Left-footed central defenders are all the rage these days. So too are defenders capable of carrying the ball out from the back. Ngenge, on this admittedly brief evidence, appears to possess a lot of the attributes most clubs are looking for on the market.

Ngenge also made one superb last-ditch tackle in the first-half, showing the awareness to come across on the cover and deny Lobi Stars what would have been a certain opener with a perfectly-timed slide.

“Ngenge symbolises the youthful talent that has taken Nigeria football by storm this year,” Score Nigeria write. “That [winning goal] was only made possible by the drive and audacity of Ngenge.

“He is a tall, powerfully-built centre-back, who loves to join the attack.”

The step up from the top-flight of Nigerian competition to even youth team football in England is a sizeable one. Ngenge arrives at Leeds not as the finished article but as very much a work in progress.

Yet, there certainly appears to be a lot to work with.