Leeds United see 'Premier League competition emerge' amid Joe Rodon's uncertain future

Southampton have reportedly registered an interest in signing Leeds United loanee Joe Rodon this summer. Rodon spent the entire season on loan at Elland Road from Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur and managed to establish himself as one of the most reliable defenders outside of the top flight.

As a result, Leeds are said to be keen on making his loan move permanent this summer if possible. However, given Daniel Farke's side missed out on winning promotion back to the top flight, it remains to be seen whether they would be able to make such a deal make sense.

A report by Teamtalk suggests Leeds are still hopeful of getting a deal done for the Wales international, but their pursuit appears to have been complicated by Southampton's interest. Of course, given their win at Wembley Stadium last weekend, the Saints would be able to offer Rodon top flight football and they would likely have the financial clout required to meet Tottenham's financial demands, with the north Londoners said to be chasing a fee of around £12m to £15m.

The report adds that the ball is firmly in Rodon's court, though, with the defender in charge of his future. Rodon has been named in Rob Page's Wales squad for next month's friendlies with Gibraltar and Slovakia, alongside Charlie Crew, Ethan Ampadu, Dan James and Connor Roberts, and he'll use the weeks that follow to mull over his next move.

Having failed to force his way into Ange Postecoglou's plans at Spurs, Rodon made the switch to Leeds last August and made his debut off the bench in the loss at Birmingham City in the club's second game of the season. A full debut followed in the draw with West Bromwich Albion and despite picking up a red card against Hull City in September, the Welshman, formerly of Swansea City, quickly established himself as a key man in the Leeds backline.

Rodon made 44 successive starts for the Whites in all competitions, including all three of the club's play-off games as he helped Leeds to within 90 minutes of a return to the top flight. In that time, the defender built up partnerships with Pascal Struijk and Ampadu in the heart of the defence and it was with the latter that he helped Leeds record 11 clean sheets over the second half of the campaign.

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Leeds would be within their rights to feel the permanent addition of Rodon would bolster their chances of going one better next time around and securing the right-sided centre back would certainly send out a statement of intent to their early rivals for promotion.

That's a notion former Leeds manager Simon Grayson agrees with, telling the Yorkshire Evening Post: "Out of the non-contracted players, I think Joe Rodon would be a real good addition to the team.

"You don't play for Tottenham and be a Welsh international without being a good player so I think that fits a bill."