Leeds United transfer news: Leo Hjelde to Sunderland timeline update – Adam Pope
Leo Hjelde’s move from Leeds United to Sunderland is expected to be done by Wednesday morning at the latest (31 January), according to Adam Pope.
The BBC journalist reported via Twitter on the morning of 29 January that the Norwegian’s exit from Elland Road should happen within the “next 24-48 hours”.
The defender, 20, started the Championship opener under Daniel Farke but fell out of favour and was dropped to the under-21s, and therefore the Whites have accepted a £2million bid for him [Fabrizio Romano, 29 January].
Pope wrote: “Hjelde deal to Sunderland expected to happen over next 24-48 hours.”
He will be the fourth Leeds defender to leave permanently in one manner or another this month, with Djed Spence’s loan from Tottenham terminated early, before Luke Ayling’s loan to Middlesbrough which will see out his Elland Road contract, while Robin Koch, already on loan at Eintracht Frankfurt for the remainder of his own Whites deal signed a pre-contract to remain at the German side.
Numbers decreasing
Hjelde’s Leeds United career hasn’t seen him establish himself in the first-team since his arrival from Celtic in August 2021 for a fee of over £1m [Yorkshire Evening Post].
He has made eight senior appearances in that time, and equally his former under-23s partner Charlie Cresswell is having his own difficulties with game time under Farke, but since the manager made clear he had no plans for the youngster then a sale makes sense.
There haven’t been many breakthroughs from the academy set up in recent seasons, with even the likes of Joe Gelhardt and Cresswell’s progress stalling.
Archie Gray, 17, has stormed through to overtake all of the older options, but on the whole the pathway hasn’t been a clear one and the return on investment that the previous regime put towards stocking up the academy hasn’t been great.
Hjelde will join Sam Greenwood at the Stadium of Light, with the attacking midfielder on a loan-to-buy deal which will only cost £1.5m when it is likely made permanent, and it could be the new start he needs.
He was heavily linked to a Salernitana move in the summer window and he has only moved further down the pecking order at Leeds United since then, so a sale at this stage was probably the logical conclusion.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay has shared the latest picture of the transfer window at Elland Road with the deadline fast approaching.
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