Sky Sports journalist Tim Thornton has shared a new on-air update regarding Leeds United’s current transfer activity.
With the season set to get underway in four days’ time, Leeds are still on the lookout for more reinforcements as they look to put the finishing touches to their squad.
Leeds have brought in four new faces so far, all of which have seemingly settled in well during pre-season. However, the Whites are without a signing in two-and-a-half-weeks.
Daniel Farke admitted after Leeds’ first friendly in Germany that full-back and central midfield are two areas he is keen to strengthen, and that remains the case.
Having said that, a new winger is now also on the wish-list following the sale of talismanic Championship POTS Crysencio Summerville to West Ham United.
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Tim Thornton shares Jonathan Rowe, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, Hugo Bueno update
Links to prospective new signings have intensified over the last 48 hours with a mixture of both permanent and loan targets on the radar.
Leeds have seen a £7 million offer turned down by Norwich City for Jonathan Rowe, while a decision is expected on the future of Crystal Palace’s Jesurun Rak-Sakyi this week.
With Farke keen to find some competition for Junior Firpo, Wolverhampton Wanderers left-back Hugo Bueno is also someone being looked at.
Speaking live on Sky Sports’ Transfer Show on Monday evening, journalist Tim Thornton provided the latest state of play regarding Leeds’ interest in all three.
He said: “They are interested in Jonathan Rowe, a winger at Norwich City. There are two potential stumbling blocks to this deal; first of all whether Norwich will sell to a Championship rival, but also whether they can agree a fee.
“In addition to that the Norwich midfielder Gabriel Sara, they sold him to Galatasaray over the weekend as well, one of their stand out performers of last season. The optics don’t look great for Norwich selling two of their key players in the week leading up to the start of the new season.
“He’s one option for Leeds but it will be a difficult deal to get done. They are also interested in a deal for Crystal Palace winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, but he’s a player a lot of clubs are looking at. He’s a young player, very talented and will have options so Leeds will be looking to get a loan deal done for him.
“They are also looking at a loan deal for full-back Hugo Bueno from Wolves. He’s a player they are interested in, but the problem Leeds have with loans is that they will not guarantee them playing time, they will have to earn playing time. Of course, when Premier League clubs loan players out, they want them to play.”
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Wolves could hand Leeds issue on two fronts
As mentioned by Thornton, a deal for Bueno could be difficult to pull off for Leeds due to their inability to guarantee him an immediate starting place.
Firpo very much has that position locked down for now and so Wolves will no doubt be keen to send him to a club who can offer him regular minutes.
The Bueno deal isn’t the only one Leeds may face difficulties with as a result of Wolves, but also Rowe, with the Premier League side also interested.
As seen with plenty of deals in the last 14 months since Leeds’ return to the Championship, more often than not, players will choose a move to the top-flight.
If Pedro Neto was to leave, Rowe may well be the one they choose to replace him and so Leeds need to act fast to get it done.
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