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Arnaud Kalimuendo on the brink of move amid Leeds United battle with Rennes and Nice
Leeds United are set to suffer a major blow in the transfer market with Arnaud Kalimuendo on the brink of a transfer to Rennes, according to L’Equipe.
The Whites were battling the Ligue 1 side and Nice to sign the 20-year-old Paris Saint-Germain striker, but an agreement is now close for him to move in a €25million deal [£21million].
The report on Wednesday afternoon (10 August) said that in “recent hours” PSG and Rennes were “very close to finalising their agreement”, which will also a sell-on percentage included in the deal.
United have been chasing the Frenchman since their pursuit of Charles De Ketelaere ended in failure, and this will be another big disappointment as Jesse Marsch wants another striker in before the window closes.
Kalimuendo had been impressing in the preseason under new coach Christophe Galtier, who wanted to keep him in Paris, but Luis Campos is running their transfer business and was always ready to sell him.
Leeds had been unsuccessful with an earlier offer of €20million, and it looks like the battle is now lost.
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The race to sign De Ketelaere from Club Brugge never looked like having a chance, but this one appeared to be the Whites’ to lose for some time.
The main hurdle seemed to be getting PSG to sell since the youngster was doing so well when handed time to perform after two seasons on loan with Lens.
When the proper matches started and Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe returned to the line up it was always going to be hard for Kalimuendo to get much game time, especially with Hugo Ekitike signed and Campos hell-bent on another striker.
As such it appeared that the hard part was done once it became clear that the striker was going to leave the Parc des Princes.
It is only relatively recently that the real competition has hotted up to sign him, but that late burst appears to have won out.
United have little time left before the close of the window to identify a completely new target, unless they want to make a last-minute deadline day decision, so they will have to move on as quickly as possible to one of the other players they have an interest in already to avoid yet more disappointment.
In other Leeds United news, the club have at least received a timely boost on another attacking target after a recent update from Dharmesh Sheth at Sky Sports.