Leeds United’s pursuit of a new midfielder goes on with Habib Diarra set to agree a huge £35m move to Sunderland. The Strasbourg captain’s move is expected to be confirmed in the next few days.
Leeds made two offers to sign Diarra, but The 49ers refused to pay over the odds and Sunderland have agreed an astronomical fee with Strasbourg. Leeds’ highest Diarra offer only reached a total of £23.9m.
The need for a midfielder remains. With Joe Rothwell returning to Bournemouth and Josuha Guilavogui leaving the club on a free, Leeds are left with three senior midfielders and the returning Charlie Crew.
Crew is expected to go on loan again, leaving just Ilia Gruev, Ao Tanaka and Ethan Ampadu. Only the latter has any Premier League experience. But Ampadu has played less than 30 Premier League games.
Leeds need a midfielder and the likelihood is that The Whites target a midfielder with knowledge of the Premier League. Juventus ace Douglas Luiz has been touted as an ambitious target for The Whites.
Douglas Luiz takes on Tyler Adams during his time at Leeds.
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
Leeds are the only club to make a move for Douglas Luiz
Bought by Juventus for £42m last summer, Brazil international Luiz struggled in his first season with The Old Lady and new manager Igor Tudor is not a fan. He is reshaping the Juventus squad this summer.
Currently at the Club World Cup, Luiz has not got a look-in. Leeds remain interested in doing a deal for Luiz and now, TuttoMercatoWeb deliver an update. They say they hope Leeds take Luiz off their hands.
They are keen to free up his wages in order to sign a midfielder more-suited to Tudor. The report adds that a loan with an obligation is acceptable, and that Leeds are the only club to make a concrete move.
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Douglas Luiz’s Premier League experience would be pivotal
Luiz has played the majority of his career in the Premier League, joining Aston Villa from Man City’s loan squad when Villa had only just been promoted under Dean Smith. He earned his move to Juventus.
Luiz now faces a bit of a crisis. A top-quality player, but one that desperately needs a move. But clubs are unwilling to match what Juventus paid for him and certainly, retain Luiz’s £74,000-a-week wages.
Douglas Luiz numbers in PL, compared to Leeds’ three midfielders:
Name Clubs in PL Games Minutes Goals Assists Wins
Douglas Luiz Aston Villa 175 14005 20 18 69
Ethan Ampadu Sheffield UnitedChelseaLeeds 26 2101 0 0 5
Ao Tanaka Leeds 0 0 0 0 0
Ilia Gruev Leeds 0 0 0 0 0
The only option seems to be a loan for Luiz and likely, a return to the Premier League to reignite his stuttering career. Perhaps then, Leeds have a chance of signing the Brazilian from Juventus after all.