MOT View: Leeds surely handed killer blow over being able to seal centre-back transfer
Freiburg defender Robin Koch has been somewhat tentatively linked with Leeds United since Victor Orta revealed he is someone who the club has profiled this season.
Back in January, Leeds’ director of football told the Yorkshire Evening Post that Koch, 23, was someone who could be a realistic target for the Whites if they win promotion to the Premier League.
However, a new update on Koch’s future has surely dealt a killer blow to Leeds’ hopes of completing a deal for the Freiburg and Germany centre-back.
According to German magazine Kicker, Koch would like to join a Champions League club if he left Freiburg in the next transfer window.
The Germany international has been one of the stand-out defenders in the Bundesliga this season and that has led to the Daily Star reporting that Leeds, Tottenham, West Ham and Norwich are among the English clubs to have scouted him.
However Kicker’s report says that RB Leipzig have had their eyes on Koch.
Leipzig are third in the Bundesliga and, once the season is able to reconvene, they seem to be a team who are likely to qualify for the Champions League.
Tottenham could also do the same even though they have had a pretty terrible season but the fact remains that Leeds will not be a Champions League club next season.
Let’s not rule that out in the future – who knows where the club will go under Marcelo Bielsa?
But this latest news about Koch is bound to end any hopes that Orta had of striking a deal for the Freiburg defender ahead of next season.
It is a shame because he’s a good player but this at least shows that Orta is scouting the right types of player and there’s nothing wrong with the ambition he has shown here.
In other Leeds United news, fans are blown away by what this loan star has said about his future at Elland Road.