(Credit: Imago)

Jacob Raw

Wed 13 May 2026 16:53, UK

Leeds United are said to be interested in signing Burnley’s Zian Flemming this summer, but he would not be an improvement on Joel Piroe.

Daniel Farke has a striker at the top of his summer transfer wishlist, with Piroe being linked away from Elland Road once again.

The Dutchman’s departure would allow the 49ers extra finances and space to go and sign a replacement with the Whites in for Flemming, according to The Yorkshire Post.

The Burnley star has 10 Premier League goals this season, and is expected to depart Turf Moor following his side’s relegation.

Leeds would have to spend a big fee on Flemming, and though it could be facilitated by Piroe’s exit, that doesn’t mean they should put their foot on the pedal with this one.

Joel Piroe and Zian Flemming are too like-for-like

Piroe needed to leave in January in order for Leeds to pull off a move for Jorgen Strand Larsen.

When the forward remained stubborn on his exit stance, it became quite clear that the Whites were not going to be able to afford Strand Larsen.

The situation was frustrating, especially considering the fact that Piroe was never going to get a good chance to play under Farke, regardless of what happened in the second half of the season.

Flemming, on the other hand, has been Burnley’s main man up top, on penalties, and in form.

If you put Piroe in that Burnley side, he would have most likely come close to scoring the same amount of goals, despite his poor season for the Whites.

Flemming is not someone who will create chances for himself, has decent physical awareness and can drop in deep when needed.

All his qualities are very similar to Piroe’s playstyle; you just need to watch a full 90 minutes of him for Burnley to see that he would not be the man for Leeds to sign.

Piroe exit is expected regardless

The idea at Leeds is to sign a forward who is better than Piroe, which would possibly make Lukas Nmecha take a bit of a backseat at Elland Road.

That’s because Piroe is expected to leave the Whites this summer, and it’s more likely to be a permanent departure, with the 49ers needing to raise funds.

It may actually be that Leeds look to sell the 26-year-old before signing an upgrade, or that they simply won’t waste their time on another nearly deal.