Double Leeds United transfer update as £13m international and Leicester City star eyed - The Athletic
The latest Leeds United transfer news with further additions needed out wide and at full-back.
Leeds United have added another name to their winger shortlist with reports of interest in AC Milan’s Noah Okafor.
Attacking reinforcements remain a late-summer priority for Daniel Farke, who at present has only welcomed Lukas Nmecha through the door while losing Manor Solomon and Mateo Joseph. Leeds have reached an agreement in principle to sign free agent striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin but are yet to land a winger, which has been a top priority throughout the window.
Leeds eventually missed out on Igor Paixão to Marseille and have been assessing their options since, with Okafor emerging as a potential target. The Athletic report that Elland Road chiefs are looking into the 25-year-old AC Milan star, whose future at the San Siro remains uncertain despite a promising pre-season.
Okafor gave Isaac Schmidt a torrid time during Milan’s 1-1 draw against Leeds in Dublin last weekend, regularly taking on his Swiss international teammate and playing a part in the build-up to Santiago Gimenez’s opener. The winger has also scored two goals against each of Perth Glory and Liverpool this summer.
The Athletic report that while no club-to-club talks have taken place, Leeds are taking a look at Okafor with just over two weeks until the transfer window shuts. Earlier this summer, Italian media claimed Milan would be willing to cash in on their forward if a valuation between €12-15million (roughly £10-13m) was met.
Okafor spent the second-half of last season at Napoli, where he only played four Serie A games but claimed a league winners’ medal, having initially been due to join RB Leipzig on loan before a deal collapsed. Two years at Milan have seen the 24-cap Swiss international, who can also operate upfront, register seven goals and four assists in 53 games.
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That low appearance number is thanks in part to fitness issues, with Okafor missing 24 Milan games and a further two Napoli fixtures due to injury or illness over the past two seasons. Much of those absences have been due to muscular problems, either in the calf or hamstrings.
Full-back latest as Leeds United eye Leicester City man
Alongside first-team additions towards the top of the pitch, Leeds are in the market for full-back cover and the Athletic also report on interest in James Justin. The 27-year-old has been tipped to leave the King Power Stadium all summer, with one year left on his contract and a number of Premier League admirers.
Leeds have only Sam Byram and Schmidt as full-back cover, with the latter reportedly agreeing the terms of a loan switch to Werder Bremen, albeit the club are yet to sanction any exit. That could change, however, if a replacement is sourced.
Justin has played 168 times for Leicester and started 34 Premier League games last season, registering two goals and two assists. The one-cap England international is naturally a right-back but can operate comfortably on the left, offering a similar level of versatility in that sense to Byram.
Leicester manager Marti Cifuentes played Justin in last weekend’s Championship opening-weekend win over Sheffield Wednesday but the full-back was not in the squad for Tuesday’s Carabao Cup defeat to Huddersfield. Other first-team players either started or were on the bench at the least.