Blackburn Rovers 'reject' Premier League bid for Leeds United-linked man as Wayne Rooney's Plymouth eye Liverpool loan
Your round-up of the latest headlines surrounding Leeds United’s Championship rivals.
Leeds United have less than three weeks to go until they kick off their 2024/25 Championship campaign at home to Portsmouth. Daniel Farke’s side are currently in Germany for a pre-season training camp and have two fixtures scheduled before welcoming Valencia to Elland Road early next month - their final warm-up game. The Whites have been busy this summer and confirmed the arrival of Jayden Bogle over the weekend, their fourth arrival after Joe Rodon, Alex Cairns and Joe Rothwell.
Having racked up 90 points and made it to the play-off final last season, Leeds are unsurprisingly among the favourites to go up time round but know they face another tough promotion push. The rest of the Championship will be desperate to get one over on them and have been hard at work this summer too. With that in mind, the YEP has rounded up some of the latest transfer stories from across the division.
Szmodics latest
Blackburn Rovers continue to harbour faint hope of keeping Sammie Szmodics and recent reports claim they have rejected an opening bid from Ipswich Town. The Lancashire Telegraph’s Rovers correspondent, Elliott Jackson, reports that the bid was ‘well below’ the club’s valuation of their talisman, although talks are expected to continue.
Leeds were linked with interest in Szmodics on Monday morning but quickly fell behind Ipswich, with Sky Sports claiming the Premier League new-boys were in ‘advanced negotiations’ for last season’s Championship Golden Boot winner. A move to the top-flight is looking increasingly likely but it remains to be seen whether Kieran McKenna’s side will return with an improved offer.
Pilgrims eye Liverpool star
Plymouth Argyle are thought to be weighing up an approach to take young Liverpool striker Jayden Danns on loan for next season. TEAMtalk reports that Argyle manager Wayne Rooney is a ‘big admirer’ of the 18-year-old and could look to do business with the fierce rivals of his former side, Manchester United.
Danns was well-liked by Jurgen Klopp and even featured in the Carabao Cup final for Liverpool, but the teenager is expected to find regular football hard to come by under new manager Arne Slot. A temporary move away could prove best for the forward and Plymouth are thought to be ‘front of the queue’ if that ends up being the case.
Pompey arrival close
Portsmouth are thought to be closing in on a deal for Central Coast Mariners defender Jacob Farrell. The News reports that Pompey are ‘on the brink’ of announcing their sixth summer arrival ahead of facing Leeds at Elland Road on August 10.
Farrell, 21, was a regular at left-back as Central Coast romped to an unprecedented treble last season, managed by former Leeds coach Mark Jackson. The Australian Under-23 international is now expected to fly over to England and could feature in Pompey’s opening-weekend trip to West Yorkshire.