Club confirms striker strongly linked with move to Leeds has suffered thigh injury
Leeds United-linked striker Nicolas Gonzalez has suffered a thigh tear.
The news was confirmed on the official Stuttgart Twitter page in a fitness update on Monday afternoon and Gonzalez has been ruled out of training.
The player has been strongly linked with a move to Leeds over the past few weeks.
Stuttgart have been training for over two weeks now and Gonzalez scored in a 6-1 win in the first pre-season game on August 8.
The Mirror claimed that Leeds wanted the £20m-rated forward, stating Marcelo Bielsa thought he could take the Premier League by storm.
Then the All Stats Aren’t We podcast claimed the striker had been to look around Elland Road and Thorp Arch ahead of a potential move.
Sampdoria had been plotting a move but SampdoriaNews claimed that the player wanted to move to Leeds.
Bad news for Gonzalez
Stuttgart didn’t say how long Gonzalez would be out for but a mild tear can take 10 days to three weeks to heal. More severe tears can take longer.
This doesn’t necessarily rule him out of a move this summer but it does complicate things.
Leeds would ideally want a player who can come and train with Marcelo Bielsa in pre-season.
And, would Leeds want to take the risk of bringing in an injured player again after the debacle with Jean-Kevin Augustin (not forgetting Izzy Brown the season before)?
We think it makes it more unlikely unless it’s a really mild injury.
If Leeds sign a player who isn’t fit to play at the start of the season, we don’t think the fans will be very impressed at all.
In other Leeds United news, Reliable journalist: Leeds make big Ben White decision after Brighton valuation delivered