Jaka Bijol is now a Leeds United player and in pre-season training with Daniel Farke and his new teammates after his arrival from Udinese.
Leeds United finally got a deal over the line for Jaka Bijol, with Leeds signing Bijol on a five-year contract this summer.
Bijol was first outlined as an option for Leeds by us before the first concrete links between Leeds and Udinese’s Bijol emerged in later weeks, with a deal eventually agreed on.
Bijol is an absolute monster in the air, which was on full display when Slovenia played England at the Euros last summer in 2024. Leeds will hope that he is the foundation upon which survival is built in 2025/26.
New Leeds star Jaka Bijol battles Harry Kane.
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Jaka Bijol explains training with Leeds United so far
Now secured, Bijol is just the second Slovenian to play for Leeds but his impact should be far greater than the others, with comparisons made between Bijol and Nikola Milenkovic of Nottingham Forest already.
He was imperious at the Euros last summer and he will add more steel and aggression to Leeds’ backline following promotion. The 26-year-old is now entering what should be the prime years of his career.
Bijol’s first words for Leeds should have fans extremely excited by what’s to come for someone so physically combative and powerful as a warrior of a defender.
He’s now given his first words since starting to train with his teammates, speaking on the difficulty, the fact they use footballs at the early stage of pre-season, and on the weather as well.
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Bijol said: “Yeah, for sure, the first couple of days have been hard. It should be hard, so that we are already for it. We’ll be suffering for some more weeks, I think.”
On using balls in training, he added: “It’s a bit better like this, I think. We still run a little bit but at least we have a ball. It’s a little bit of everything.”
On dealing with the heat, he concluded: “Nah, this is still nice. I was just a lot worse in Italy with a lot hotter weather, so like this is perfect with a little bit of sun.”
Jaka Bijol pumps his arm in celebration during Udinese vs Monza.
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Bijol explains the challenge of the Premier League for Leeds
Bijol spoke to Slovenian media about the Leeds switch in recent weeks. He had interesting things to say regarding the challenge ahead next season.
Even the most optimistic of Leeds fans will acknowledge that next season is going to be a real grind for the club. Finishing above the bottom three will be seen as a success, given the growing gap between leagues.
Bijol said: “Everyone has a desire to play at the highest level. I’ve always followed the English league and that has always been my desire. I have fulfilled my desire and I hope that the story will be successful.”
Speaking on the difficulty of the Premier League, Bijol added: “Every game will be a new challenge. You can’t have a bad game, opponents will take advantage of every mistake. Every week will be interesting.”