Leeds United news round-up: Newcastle player wanted, £5m talks begin
Leeds United are preparing for a return to Championship action against Sunderland on Monday.
The Whites are coming off the back of an impressive 4-0 victory over Watford at Vicarage Road in which Daniel Farke’s men managed to run rings around their opponents.
Looking ahead to their upcoming clash, Leeds have been involved in a couple of transfer stories and Farke has singled out one of his players who’s “crucial” to his plans at Elland Road.
Here, MOT Leeds News rounds up all of the day’s main stories in one place.
Daniel Farke shares which player is currently ‘crucial’ to Leeds United
So far, the 2024/25 season has been good to Leeds and their fans with the West Yorkshire outfit currently sitting comfortably at the top of the Championship table.
However, they’d be half the team they have been this season if Dan James wasn’t as heavily involved as he has been in LS11.
His 16-goal contributions across all competitions are one of the main reasons behind Leeds’ dominance this season so it’s not a surprise to see that Farke named James as a “crucial” part of his team.
Leeds United trio named in Championship Team of the Week
Farke managed to lead his men to a more than convincing 4-0 demolition of Tom Cleverley’s Watford on Tuesday evening.
Following their first match-up earlier in the season, many expected the Hornets to put up a decent fight but instead, Leeds walked all over them.
So, it’s no surprise that Joel Piroe, Manor Solomon and James were all named as three of the best 11 players in the Championship over the last week.
Rasmus Kristensen could leave for £5m
Rasmus Kristensen’s name is likely one that will make Leeds’ fans shudder at just the thought of it.
Ever since the Whites were relegated from the Premier League, the Dane has constantly been looking for a way out and has spent the last two seasons away from Elland Road on loan.
So, seen as though the right-back is playing to a decent standard while plying his trade for Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga, it’s not a surprise to see the German outfit exploring the Whites’ demands for a permanent transfer.
However, Bild reports that Frankfurt only want to fork out £5million for the defender, which, is a fair few pennies shy of the £12.5m that was agreed upon when the loan deal was sanctioned.
Despite the £7.5m discrepancy, it seems that talks have “intensified” between the two parties with both hoping to agree upon a deal.
Callum Wilson is on Daniel Farke’s shortlist
As the winter transfer window came towards an end, the Whites were linked with Southampton duo Cameron Archer and Adam Armstrong in a bid to solve their number nine depth.
In the end, nothing came to fruition with Ivan Juric’s reluctance to offload Archer in case he needed him later in the season.
However, now that the window has closed, rumours have emerged regarding the future of some out-of-contract players and Newcastle striker, Callum Wilson, is now on Leeds’ radar.
That’s according to TBR Football (13 February), who share that Leeds are keen on acquiring his services.
This would be a bold move from Leeds, especially considering his injury history but it’s one that would show they mean business, no matter the league they’re in.