Leeds United have stepped up their bid to bring in some new players this summer with Lukas Nmecha signed, and Jaka Bijol expected to be confirmed before the end of the week.
Reports in Italy actually claim Bijol will arrive in Yorkshire today to complete an £18.75m move from his current side Udinese. It comes after Slovenia defender Bijol agreed a move to Leeds himself last week.
Leeds are said to have held talks for Reinildo Mandava, Alex Moreno, Maxime Stroeykens and Noah Sadiki. The previously held belief that Leeds wanted Premier League players has gone out the window.
With an influx of signings expected including Ligue 1 stars Habib Diarra and Gabriel Gudmundsson, Leeds will have to sell players to make room – and to continue to comply with Profit & Sustainability Rules.
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Birmingham City to offer Mateo Joseph a shock exit from Leeds
Josuha Guilavogui has left Leeds, while Manor Solomon and Joe Rothwell have returned to parent clubs Tottenham and Bournemouth. Junior Firpo is set for Betis and Sam Byram is yet to make a decision.
Five, then, could leave by the time July 1 strikes. Others could be sold with Illan Meslier, Patrick Bamford, Max Wober and Isaac Schmidt’s futures in doubt. Mateo Joseph could also leave with Betis interested.
Joseph has just helped Spain finish top of their group at the U21 Euros, ahead of Willy Gnonto’s Italy. He wants to join Betis, but there is interest coming from one of the biggest clubs in the Championship.
Give Me Sport now claim Birmingham City – who are co-owned by Tom Brady – now want to sign Joseph from Leeds this summer. LeedsUnited.News have been told that Leeds will sell Joseph for a fee of £8.5m.
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Mateo Joseph really needs to consider Birmingham City loan
The lure of a return to Spain and to Betis will surely prove tempting for Joseph. But the Spain star is now at a point in his career where he needs to be starting games and at Betis, the chances of that are slim.
If Joseph is struggling to do so at Leeds right now, realistically he is only going to be cover at Betis under Manuel Pellegrini. He needs a team where he is going to start week in, week out at least next season.
A move to Birmingham would provide Joseph with a season where he can get plenty of game time and go from strength to strength and reach Villa’s Andres Garcia “very high level” verdict about Joseph.