Leeds United are on track to chalk off two of their transfer objectives in the space of a week, it seems.
Noah Okafor’s switch from AC Milan looks to be well down the path and he would arrive as Daniel Farke’s answer to the left wing hole left by Manor Solomon. Whether he is of the required quality will be left up to the 25-year-old to prove.
If all goes to plan, there is a chance both he and fellow new recruit Dominic Calvert-Lewin take to the Elland Road turf against Newcastle United at the end of the month. Of course, a deal isn’t done until it’s done.
Okafor has had problems with medical checks before, having seen a loan move to RB Leipzig fall through in January. Photos and pre-recorded presentations were all set to go before checks discovered a herniated disc. The six-week recovery time was not worth the loan.
So if a medical comes to fruition then history would suggest it’s hardly a foregone conclusion that all will run smoothly. But in the absence of any recent worry, if checks do go through fine then United’s next transfer task is clear.
Leeds’ depth at full-back was exposed upon Jayden Bogle’s injury in pre-season. He was fit enough to last the full game against Everton but the fall-back options of Sam Byram and Isaac Schmidt are a marked drop down in quality.
United have held talks with Leicester City right-back James Justin though the pursuit has been dented by an injury picked up over the weekend. Sources have outlined that while a potential deal is not dead, the setback makes a move uncertain.
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The club have other shortlisted options they can look at. Ideally, a conclusion will be reached before long.
Not only is Isaac Schmidt yearning for game time, which will likely not come at Leeds, his showings this summer have proved worrisome. He was left out of Monday’s matchday squad altogether.
Werder Bremen are hoping for a loan deal and one club chief has claimed Schmidt has shown interest in joining - yet he will not be allowed to leave until a replacement has been sourced. The likelihood is whoever comes in is an upgrade.
A new full-back, with Okafor also through the door, would mark the final main transfer hole plugged. Then, it is about the nice-to-haves. Another striker and a number 10 could yet be brought in.
But it seems that, if Okafor is to be confirmed, then the next plausible step is to sort out the back-up full-back situation then count the rest as bonuses.
That would mean the number of arrivals will have stretched to double figures and by September 2, the revamp job will have been completed regardless. Time will tell if it was good enough.
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