Leeds United interested in 'powerful' £2.5m defender at crisis-ridden European club - report
Leeds United appear to be putting early plans in place for a potentially busy summer transfer window.
Leeds United have been linked with interest in Montpellier defender Modibo Sagnan as early plans reportedly emerge ahead of the summer transfer window.
The immediate focus inside Elland Road is solely on securing automatic promotion as Leeds look to leapfrog one of Sheffield United or Burnley with six games to go. Daniel Farke’s side dropped into third following Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Luton Town and remain right in the mix for a spot in next season’s Premier League, despite a concerning drop in form over the past six games.
Recruitment chiefs will at least have one eye looking ahead to the summer, however, with plans in place to cover either promotion or another season in the Championship. And according to reports in France, those plans have taken them to Montpellier’s Sagnan with Foot Mercato detailing supposed interest in the defender.
They claim Leeds are ‘already planning for the next phase’ and as a result, are ‘closely interested’ in Sagnan, who could leave a Montpellier side destined for relegation this season. The Ligue 1 strugglers are rock-bottom and 11 points behind Stade De Reims, who occupy the division’s relegation play-off spot with six games remaining.
Montpellier sacked manager Jean-Louis Gasset on Monday following a run of nine straight defeats, with the French boss lasting just five months in the role. And the Ligue 1 club are expecting a summer clearout, with Sagnan appearing to catch the eye of Elland Road chiefs.
Sagnan will still have three years left on his Montpellier contract come summer but the French club’s impending relegation could force summer sales. And the report suggests the defender ‘could quickly move on to new horizons’.
Who is reported Leeds United target Modibo Sagnan?
It remains to be seen if Leeds will pursue a move for Sagnan this summer, with any transfer plans resting on which tier of football Elland Road hosts from August onwards. But links to the centre-back are interesting, given he has impressed at a struggling Montpellier outfit.
Sagnan is into his second year at Montpellier, having joined in a €3million (£2.5m) deal from Dutch outfit FC Utrecht in January 2024. The 25-year-old’s professional career began in France, coming through the academy at RC Lens before joining Spanish outfit Real Sociedad in 2019.
The centre-back spent much of his four years as a Sociedad player on loan in France, Spain Portugal and the Netherlands before moving to the latter permanently with Utrecht in 2023. He is described in the report by Foot Mercato as a ‘powerful, authoritative and versatile’ left-sided defender who operates predominantly at centre-back.
Sagnan was born in Saint-Denis, France, but after representing the country of his birth in the Olympics he opted to play for Mali at international level. The defender has three caps for his nation, having debuted last year.
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