The central defender Joe Rodon, a Wales international who spent the 2023–24 season on loan at Elland Road, was officially signed by Leeds United earlier this week, marking their first acquisition of the summer transfer window. Rodon is the first player to come through the door since the window opened, and the Whites may sign more before it closes at the end of August.
Daniel Farke’s side failed to earn promotion out of the Championship last season and this means that they are preparing for a second year in the second tier.
The German head coach will have known that the failure to get to the Premier League would put him at risk of losing some of his best players, and that has already proven to be the case with Archie Gray’s move to Spurs.
Premier League side Brighton are now reportedly interested in Crysencio Summerville, Georginio Rutter, Glen Kamara, and Wilfried Gnonto from the West Yorkshire outfit.
The Championship side could find a brilliant replacement for Gnonto, should he depart from Elland Road, by securing a swoop for one of their reported transfer targets before the window slams shut.
Leeds’ interest in flying winger
Last month, Dutch outlet VoetbalZone named Leeds as one of a number of clubs interested in a swoop to sign Excelsior winger Couhaib Driouech this summer.
The report claims that the Whites and Spanish giants Sevilla, who have Victor Orta at the helm, are both keen on the Morocco U23 international ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
It stated that Eredivisie champions PSV are also eyeing up a deal for the flying attacker but that they have already failed with one attempt to secure his services for a fee of €2m (£1.7m).
The outlet revealed that the Dutch side are looking for a fee of up to €4m (£3.4m) for their star forward but it remains to be seen whether or not Leeds are prepared to pay it.
VoetbalZone added that the player’s preference, at the time of their report, was to sign for PSV but they are yet to agree a deal with Excelsior.
This means that Leeds are still in the race for him as it stands. However, they will seemingly need to persuade him to make the move to the second division in England instead of holding out for the chance to play European football with the Dutch champions.
If they can usurp PSV to secure the player’s signature then they could brilliantly replace Gnonto, should the Italian forward move on this summer.
Wilfried Gnonto’s season in numbers
The Italy U21 international, who remained at Elland Road after handing in a transfer request and failing to seal an exit last summer, enjoyed a fairly successful season in the Championship.
