Leeds United sign up to race for Mandela Keita amid £8.8m transfer snub in Belgium
Leeds United are among three English clubs interested in signing OH Leuven loanee Mandela Keita this summer, according to Belgian outlet Het Nieuwsblad.
The 20-year-old is currently playing for Antwerp, on loan from fellow Belgian club Leuven, with Antwerp having a £8.8million (€10m) purchase option as part of the deal.
He is also reportedly attracting interest from Championship clubs Blackburn and Norwich, with talks about his future with his parent club yet to take place.
And according to Het Nieuwsblad [2 May], Antwerp will not be activating the purchase option they have on the 20-year-old central midfielder.
“Keita will soon report back to OH Leuven, but the midfielder has been in the spotlight in recent months. There has been a lot of information lately, especially from England.
“A Premier League team has already signed up with Leeds and two teams from the English Championship with Norwich City and Blackburn”, the report goes on to reveal.
Promising talent
Keita made a January loan switch to Antwerp and has impressed in his brief spell at the club so far, with the youngster already in double figures for appearances, going on to feature in 11 Belgian pro league games and registering one assist.
The 20-year-old has been impressing in midfield, with Antwerp currently sitting in third place in the Belgian league table.
With the report claiming that Antwerp sees the £8.8m fee as too high for them to meet, it may awaken English clubs to Keita’s potential transfer and the opportunity to play in England will also be a very tantalising one for the Belgium under-21 player.
Leeds United has become an exciting hub for promising young talents to thrive in but the West Yorkshire outfit’s current position in the Premier League arguably dampens their attraction to future young stars.
However, that shouldn’t dampen the Whites’ attempts to secure the player as they could potentially loan him out to a Championship club to further develop if they remain an English top-flight side for next season. Keita is indeed a promising talent, one which Leeds United will be silly to ignore, especially with their midfield areas needing a desperate revamp.
In other Leeds United news, other senior figures are now in line to be fired along with the manager after “emergency” talks.