David Woods

Fri 21 August 2020 11:33, UK

Leeds United are going to step up internet in Freiburg centre-back Robin Koch over the next 48 hours, according to Phil Hay.

This comes after it was reported that Brighton had turned down a third and “final” offer for Ben White from Leeds.

Koch was heavily rumoured to be the alternative if they couldn’t sign White and that now looks to be the case.

Hay said: “Leeds will attempt to push forward a deal for Koch in the next 48 hours with their interest in White at a standstill and Brighton refusing to bend in negotiations.

“The Athletic has been told that negotiations over his future will intensify over the weekend with the start of the Premier League season just three weeks away.”

Koch is the future for Leeds

This is the news we were hoping for and expecting after the Ben White deal was slammed shut by Brighton.

Now that we’re over White, the prospect of landing Koch for a reported £10.8m, is an exciting one.

This is a player who’s been turning heads in the Bundesliga and is a Germany international.

According to Bundesliga, he’s a 6ft3in player who won 65% of his aerial duels in 19/20 and was in the top-25 league-wide for passing accuracy. They compare him to Javi Martinez and that would do for us.

There’s still time to get him signed and into pre-season with Marcelo Bielsa in time for him to play a key role in the opening day fixture against Liverpool.

And we think a Cooper/Koch partnership at the back will be just as effective as a White/Cooper one.

Some Leeds fans might be still be hoping for something dramatic to happen with White, but we just can’t see him putting in a transfer request.

And, even if he does, Brighton would still be free to put a £40m or £50m valuation on his head and wait for clubs to match it.

Leeds United won’t be doing that and we think it’s Koch all the way now. We’re happy with the development.

In other Leeds United news, Striker linked strongly with Leeds tests positive for COVID-19, pulled from squad & quarantined