Well, that’s £40m spent this weekend for Leeds United and yet there are solid rumours of deals yet to be done. I don’t know about you, this is not the transfer window from the Whites that I fell in hate with.
Rodrigo Moreno has been snapped up from Valencia for a club-record fee of £27m in a deal that has gotten Whites genuinely excited. That was followed quickly with the conclusion of the chase for Robin Koch from SC Freiburg. Normally it’d be the case of close it now lads, we are done. Things are different at Leeds United; weirdly, normally different.
First comes news that Leeds United are in talks with Udinese over a deal for Rodrigo de Paul:
Leeds are seriously interested in Rodrigo de Paul from Udinese – as @mcgrathmike reported. Price tag around €30/35M and talks on between the two clubs. 🇦🇷 #LUFC #Leeds
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 30, 2020
26-year-old de Paul, a 17-cap Argentina international, has been at Udinese for four years, arriving on the back of a £2.7m transfer from Spanish side Valencia. Whilst at the club, de Paul has made 146 appearances for Udinese, scoring 25 goals and creating 25 assists.
141 of these games (24 goals/23 assists) have come in Italy’s top-tier competition, Serie A. Last season, de Paul featured in 34 Serie A games, scoring 7 goals and creating 6 assists. He captained the Turin side on 9 occasions.
On the brink of being spoiled already, the same reporter throws this one out there:
Leeds are in talks with Dinamo Zagreb to sign Josko Gvardiol. Price tag around €20m for the Croatian centre back. Another important target after signing Koch and Rodrigo – still working with Udinese to find an agreement for Rodrigo de Paul. 🔵 #LUFC #transfers
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 30, 2020
Gvardiol is an 18-year-old, Croatian Under-21 international who plays for Dinamo Zagreb, having graduated to the first team last season after coming up through the youth ranks at the club. He featured in 11 first-team games last season (829 minutes) and scored 1 goal. He also featured in Zagreb’s UEFA Youth League competition, featuring in every minute of their nine-game run to the Quarter-Finals before a 3-1 defeat against Benfica knocked them out.
It’s strange to be a Leeds United fan at the moment; very strange indeed. Good strange; not madcap Massimo strange, mind.
