Leeds United are in the market to sign Newcastle’s Nick Pope and Sean Longstaff ahead of their return to the Premier League.
The Red Bull-backed Yorkshire club are looking to strengthen the side that won the Championship last season and are hoping to break the pattern that saw the last six promoted clubs go straight back down.
To do that, Daniel Farke and the Leeds hierarchy have set their eyes north to St James’ Park where they hope to prise long-serving players Pope and Longstaff away from Tyneside.
Pope joined from Burnley in 2022 and is five appearances short of a centruy at Newcastle but the club have been heavily linked with James Trafford.
The Clarets value Trafford at £40m, but the Magpies believe they can negotiate a fee less than the asking price.
Fabrizio Romano reports that Newcastle want Pope to stay and the player is open to doing so but being pushed down to No.2 in the pecking order may give Leeds the window they are looking for.
At this stage, Romano says the Yorkshire club have “shown interest” in Pope but negotiations have gone no further than that.
A deal for Sean Longstaff though seems much more advanced with the Athletic claiming Leeds are “closing in” on the 27-year-old midfielder.
Leeds have submitted a bid of £10m plus £2m in add-ons and personal terms have already been agreed with the player.
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The latest offer is the third that Leeds have sent to Newcastle but they have yet to hear back whether it is enough for the Geordie club to greenlight the deal.
Longstaff is in the final 12 months of his contract having signed his most recent deal in 2022.
Another player on Leeds’ radar is Lille left-back Gabriel Gudmundsson, their potential fourth signing of the summer having already bought Lukas Nmecha, Jaka Bijol, and Sebastiaan Bornauw.
That deal could cost £10m and the Swedish international apparently flew to the UK on Sunday to get the transfer over the line.
The 26-year-old Swedish international has made 137 appearances across four seasons at Lille, including nine Champions League appearances last season.
Gudmundsson himself admitted he was likely to leave Ligue 1 this summer and he was recently confirmed as a target by club journalist Graham Smyth, alongside the likes of Noah Sadiki, Habib Diarra and Anton Stach.
Leeds reportedly opted against meeting the asking price for Diarra and reconsidered making an official bid for 20-year-old Sadiki.
Recent reports, however, indicate a deal for Gudmundsson may already be over the line but is yet to be announced, while an official offer for Stach could follow.
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