Leeds United should pursue Mariano Diaz deal after Marcelo Bielsa tried in January
There has been a very obvious and sudden shift in the way Leeds United have conducted their transfer business since Jesse Marsch took charge.
The American has already brought three new players to Elland Road and is showing no signs of slowing down with Charles De Ketelaere among the several names touted with a move to the Whites [Daily Mail, 27 June, page 63].
A striker is certainly on the 48-year-old’s summer shortlist but he could find the bargain deal he is after by re-entering the race for a player Marcelo Bielsa really likes.
Marsch’s predecessor in the hot seat at LS11 told Victor Orta to go out and sign Dominican Republic attacker Mariano Diaz from Real Madrid [90min] but he said no and the Argentine failed to sign the number nine he needed to potentially keep his job.
The opportunity for a second attempt is set to make itself known with the 28-year-old’s agent openly admitting that they have every intention to leave the Bernabeu this summer should the right opportunity present itself.
“The player’s intention is to leave as long as there is an option that satisfies him,” his agent said, as quoted by Tutto Mercato. “And we are in this situation, we are trying to find a team that he likes.
“For the moment he has his contract and when he understands that he has to leave and that he arrives a better team will leave, and otherwise they will not.
“Solutions to the tastes of the player are often not easy, and if he can’t find another chance he will stay, because he still has a contract. We’ll see how it ends, for now, I don’t know what will happen.”
Diaz’s contract with the reigning La Liga and Champions League champions is set to expire at the end of the 2022-23 season which could be the catalyst for Los Blancos to sell him cheaply this summer.
His goal-scoring record might not be amazing at Real Madrid but you have to remember that he only ever gets a few minutes off the bench because Karim Benzema is in the form of his life and no striker on the planet could push him out of the side.
In other Leeds United news, this Whites ace is loved by one of our Premier League rivals but, surprisingly, they might not have the budget to make a deal happen this summer.