While there is plenty going on at Leeds United today with the club looking to make two or three additions, a player that left the club seven years ago is set for a move to the Premier League.
Ao Tanaka has joined Leeds with a deal confirmed at 12pm for the 27-time Japan star. The midfielder has penned a four-year deal at Elland Road as Daniel Farke finally brings in a midfielder he’s eyed for a while.
More arrivals are expected, one being defender Isaac Schmidt from Swiss side St. Gallen. A move for the Switzerland U20 star is believed to be worth £4.6m, with Leeds paying an initial £2.5m fee for Schmidt.
But aside from Leeds, a player that fans of the Yorkshire club will remember in Marco Silvestri is on the move on deadline day and is the subject of talks to join a Premier League club from Serie A side Udinese.
Silvestri was an enigma during his three-year Leeds stint
One of 14 purchases made by Massimo Cellino in the summer of 2014 alongside the likes of Liam Cooper and Gaetano Berardi, Silvestri joined Leeds from Chievo and went on to play for Leeds for three years.
He clocked up 98 appearances but spent his last year at Elland Road as back-up to England international Rob Green, winning 23 clean sheets but conceding a massive 123 goals during his time with The Whites.
One of the six players to pull out of a game against Charlton in 2015 due to ‘injury’, Silvestri did actually play well for the Yorkshire side at times. But in 2017, he returned to Italy and moved to Hellas Verona.
Crystal Palace in talks to sign Silvestri from Serie A side Udinese
He has since impressed in Italy, lasting four years at Verona he then moved to Udinese and has even been called up to Italy’s squad during his three-year stint at Udinese but this season, he’s lost his starting spot.
An unused sub in all three of Udinese’s games this season, Silvestri is in the final year of his Udinese deal. Palace are on the lookout for a new goalkeeper after selling Sam Johnstone to Wolves for a fee of £10m.
Gianluca Di Marzio says Palace have made an approach to sign Silvestri on deadline day in a move that could see Silvestri return to England seven years after his Leeds exit, to play in the Premier League.
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