Leeds United could be in the market for a new centre-back during the January transfer window but Sheffield United fans are desperate for their club to sign a player that has been linked with Leeds.
Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Hull City saw Leeds forced to play without Pascal Struijk. The Dutchman picked up a minor ankle injury and it saw him miss the clash away from home, his absence proving Leeds costly.
Instead of putting Max Wober in at centre-back, Daniel Farke decided to bring Wober into the starting line-up at left-back and drop Ethan Ampadu into defence alongside his Wales teammate Joe Rodon.
Leeds were shaky, conceding three goals. Wober was out of position for the first, Illan Meslier produced a howler for the second and Leeds failed to deal with a set-piece for the third, one of Struijk’s attributes.
Leeds United are interested in Forest’s Andrew Omobamidele
A new centre-back would allow Ampadu to remain in midfield when either Struijk or Rodon are missing. Ireland star Andrew Omobamidele is on Leeds’ radar, with The Whites planning a loan deal worth £10m.
Reports say Leeds are rivalling Sheffield United in the race for Daniel Farke’s old Norwich defender as the Whites are willing to offer an obligatory £10m deal at the end of the loan, while Sheffield United aren’t.
But Sheffield United have lost Harry Souttar to injury and in response to the news that Chris Wilder’s side are keen on signing Omobamidele, Blades fans have urged their club to land his signature before Leeds.
Forest signed Omobamidele from Norwich for £11m in the summer of 2023. It comes after Farke had given him his debut at Norwich, where he impressed. One Blades fan said “yes please” to the news.
Another thinks Omobamidele would show Sheffield United’s new owners are “serious” about promotion. He continued by saying the Blades should be able to blow any Championship team “out of the water”.
Sheffield United fans continued to react in their drones and are clearly hopeful their side pip Leeds to his signature. Another said he “would love” Omobamidele, while one suggested he is “better than Souttar”.
But given he played under Farke at Norwich, you would imagine that he might prefer to join Leeds in the coming days and weeks. Whether Leeds do actually enter the January window now, remains to be seen.
Eagle-eyed Leeds fans may recall Omobamidele from 2021 victory
Rewind to Marcelo Bielsa’s era as Leeds boss and The Whites first of three years in the Premier League during the 2020-21 campaign. Leeds went to Farke’s Norwich and secured a 2-1 win at Carrow Road.
Raphinha opened the scoring, cutting inside a young Omobamidele before squeezing a shot home. Then, Rodrigo scored a winner from 25 yards out even though goalkeeper Tim Krul really should have saved it.
In between Leeds’ goals, Omobamidele scored his first professional goal against Leeds with a stunning header that kissed the cross bar as it flew past Illan Meslier. Now, he could end up at Leeds with Farke.
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