Adam Underwood has won some trust among doubting Leeds United supporters after orchestrating a deal to sign Jaka Bijol from Udinese – but there is plenty of work left to be done.
The £15m deal to sign Bijol is seen as a bargain, but also a bit of a coup. Newcastle showed interest in the Slovenia ace, while some of Italy’s biggest clubs have also been interested in signing the giant defender.
Yet, Leeds and Underwood have managed to pull off a deal to sign Bijol, and get him tied down until the summer of 2030. Now, focus switches to the rest of Leeds’ transfer priorities and there are certainly, many.
A new goalkeeper, a new midfielder and a new starting striker top the bill, while Leeds need replacements for Junior Firpo and Manor Solomon, and an improvement on Brenden Aaronson in attacking midfield.
But instead of having to go out and sign a new player, it would make much more sense if Leeds could simply sign Solomon permanently after his sensational 2024-25 campaign while on loan at Elland Road.
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What Leeds have told Manor Solomon’s agents this summer
Solomon scored the winning goal in injury time at Plymouth to secure the Championship title ahead of Burnley, his 23rd goal and assist of 2024-25. His form made him a fan favourite at Leeds in the last year.
However, Solomon has informed Tottenham he would like to stay and new Spurs manager Thomas Frank wants to take a look at Solomon before rushing into selling the Israel ace, despite signing Mathys Tel.
Now, TeamTalk say Leeds have been in contact with Solomon’s agents with the relationship likely to be close having signed him on loan last summer. Leeds have said they would ‘love’ to sign Solomon.
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How much Tottenham want if they are to sell Manor Solomon
Spurs landed Solomon in the summer of 2023 on a free transfer from Shakhtar Donetsk and that means any sale of the winger will be deemed as pure profit, and help Spurs stay afloat of any PSR breaches.
Initially, reports said Tottenham wanted a fee between £15m and £20m for Solomon – which seemed reasonable given his form, and that Leeds would have to deal with Daniel Levy to sign the wide man.
However, new reports over the weekend stated that Tottenham chiefs feel Solomon is worthy of top-end Championship value after last season. That means Solomon is now rated by Spurs at a huge £30m-£40m.
A potential club-record transfer for Leeds if they were to do a deal, with Georginio Rutter costing £35.5m. If that is the case, Leeds will surely walk away from the negotiating table and pursue other summer targets.