Leeds United seem to be focusing on a new midfielder and a starting striker after completing deals for Lukas Nmecha and Jaka Bijol – with the latter undergoing a medical on Wednesday.
With Nmecha sorting out cover needed for a big-money striker, Leeds made a bid for Rodrigo Muniz and were said to be in advanced Nikola Krstovic talks. Leeds are watching Vladyslav Vanat at the U21 Euros.
A striker could come next with Leeds pushing to sign another forward even after the arrival of Nmecha on a free from Wolfsburg. Another midfielder is also key alongside Ao Tanaka, Ilia Gruev and Ethan Ampadu.
Plenty of options are on Leeds’ radar. Most-recently, Leeds have been linked with Raphael Onyedika at Club Brugge, but Strasbourg captain Habib Diarra seems to be the one Leeds want to sign this summer.
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Leeds United told to improve Habib Diarra bid by another £4m
Reports emerged at the start of the month that Leeds had made a bid for Senegal star Diarra. Just 24 hours later, he was nutmegging Dean Henderson to score in a 3-1 Senegal win over England at Forest.
Strasbourg had not given a response as they waited for further offers, with Diarra himself of the belief he deserves to join an elite club. Strasbourg president Marc Keller, though, says Diarra will leave this summer.
Now, TeamTalk provide an update. They say Strasbourg have now given a response to Leeds, rejecting a £21m bid made by The 49ers. The report says another £4m, taking a deal to £25m, will get the job done.
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The other clubs interested in signing Habib Diarra this summer
Diarra has sparkled in Ligue 1 and given he is just 21 but captaining Strasbourg, interest in him is aplenty. Especially, after Liam Rosenior described Diarra as “magnificent”, after making the midfielder his skipper.
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Leeds are not alone, then. Rasmus Kristensen’s Frankfurt want Diarra, but so do a host of Premier League clubs according to a recent report. Everton, Brighton, Nottingham Forest and Villa all want to sign Diarra.
Leeds seem to be leading the race for Diarra simply by making a bid for him and holding talks over a deal to land Diarra’s signature. But this one seems difficult to do with Leeds chiefs so far unconvinced.