Adam Underwood is yet to make his first big move as Leeds United’s new sporting director with the club in desperate need of reinforcements ahead of a return to the Premier League.
Paraag Marathe has raised £150m for transfers this summer with Leeds identifying four key positions they want to improve under Daniel Farke, in an attempt to give the German the best chance of survival.
Leeds face the challenge of bridging the gap between the Championship and the Premier League, something which all three promoted sides have failed to do over the course of the last two seasons.
Alan Shearer thinks that trend will change soon as Leeds return to the top flight. But if Leeds are to do so, then they need a striker and one option linked with a move to Elland Road is Lecce’s Nikola Krstovic.
Photo by Gabriele Maricchiolo/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Photo by Gabriele Maricchiolo/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Nikola Krstovic admits he is close to leaving Serie A side Lecce
Reports emerged last week that Leeds are battling some of Italy’s biggest teams for Nikola Krstovic. It comes after the Montenegro star sparkled for Lecce, single-handedly keeping them in Italy’s top tier.
Lecce scored just 27 Serie A goals in 38 games last season – with Krstovic scoring 11 of them, and then creating five more. Little surprise then, that clubs are interested in Krstovic with the window now open.
As quoted by Roma Press, Krstovic has admitted he is now close to leaving Lecce this summer with a fee of £25m touted. The striker is currently on Nations League international duty with Montenegro.
“I am thinking about the next matches with the national team, then I will talk to the people closest to me and decide what is best for me. At the moment I am closer to leaving the club,” Krstovic declared.
Photo by Gabriele Maricchiolo/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Photo by Gabriele Maricchiolo/NurPhoto via Getty Images
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Which other strikers have been linked with a move to Leeds?
Most-recently, Leeds are said to have made ‘direct contact’ to sign Hamburg’s Davie Selke after the German blasted his side’s way back to the top tier of German football, with 23 goals in 33 appearances.
Another is previous Leeds target Arnaud Kalimuendo after proving to be a rare shining light in a poor Rennes season. Anderlecht’s Kasper Dolberg and USG’s Promise David are targets from Belgian football.
But if Leeds are going off quality for players that have played in Europe’s top-five leagues last season, Krstovic sits top of the three. But as interest hots up, so could Lecce’s price tag for Krstovic this summer.