Mateo Joseph has finally left Leeds United after a summer of back and forth between the young striker and the club.
Leeds United have sent Mateo Joseph on loan to Spain. Joseph has joined RCD Mallorca in La Liga and he’ll spend the 2025/26 season on loan with the club, having pushed for a move away from Elland Road since the end of last season.
Last time round Joseph started just 11 games in the Championship, featuring 39 times in total and scoring three goals. But going into this summer it was clear that the Spanish under-21 star wanted to leave.
Joseph handed in a transfer request and Daniel Farke eventually obliged. It came after Joseph refused to fly out to Germany for part of the pre-season tour, seemingly creating a rift between himself and manager Farke, who is now tasked with finding a replacement.
Leeds United play AC Milan in a friendly match on Saturday before starting their season at home to Everton on August 18th.
Mehdi Taremi points and looks to the sky after scoring a goal for Inter.
Photo by Mattia Ozbot – Inter/Inter via Getty Images
Leeds United handed huge Mehdi Taremi boost after Mateo Joseph exit confirmed
One striker linked with a move to West Yorkshire is Mehdi Taremi at Inter Milan. Last month, Leeds United were initially linked with Taremi who has fallen out of favour at Inter Milan after just one season with the Nerazzurri. For a while it looked like Botafogo were making a firm move for Taremi before that move fell through. Then, earlier this week, reports claimed that Leeds United were closing in on the signing of Taremi in a deal that could cost around the €8-10million (£6.9-8.7million) mark.
And fresh reports coming out of Italy have confirmed that Leeds United are indeed leading the race to sign the Iranian legend. It is understood that Leeds and Fulham are showing the most interest in the former Porto man. The Gazzetta reports that Leeds are leading the charge to sign Taremi this summer.
Interestingly, separate reports in Italy also say that Taremi is now training alone as he awaits to leave Inter Milan this summer.
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Why Leeds United fans should be excited about Mehdi Taremi arriving
On the surface, a 33-year-old striker who has just endured a bit of a flop season with Inter Milan wouldn’t be all that exciting. For Inter last season, Taremi scored just three goals in 43 total games, including one goal in 26 Serie A appearances. But those figures come as a shock after his prolific stint with Porto beforehand.
In four years with the Portuguese giants, Taremi scored 91 goals in 182 total games, or one goal in every two games. In the 2022-23 season alone, he scored 31 goals in 51 games, and also boasts an incredible record of 55 goals in 94 games for his national side Iran.
Season Games Goals Assists
2023/24 23 6 4
2022/23 33 22 7
2021/22 32 20 12
2020/21 34 16 11
Despite having never played in England before, he’s an experienced and prolific striker who also stands at 6ft 2in. So far this summer, it has been clear that Leeds United are targeting taller players, and Taremi fits the bill in that sense too.
And at a few million pounds, Taremi looks like a shrewd signing for Farke, who still has multiple positions left to bolster in his side, and a steadily decreasing transfer budget to do so with.
All in all, while it’s not a ground-breaking signing, Taremi to Leeds United looks like it would be a decent enough acquisition, and an upgrade on Joseph too.