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£50m-rated English defender on list of potential Ben White replacements at Leeds - reports
Ben White is the top target for Leeds United this summer but they have plans in place if a deal cannot be achieved for the Brighton defender, according to Beren Cross.
Writing in a Q&A session on the LeedsLive website, Cross reported that Norwich’s Ben Godfrey is on Leeds’ shortlist as they aim to sign a new centre-back ahead of next season.
Godfrey, 22, was relegated to the Championship with Norwich but could be seen as a potential replacement for White.
However LeedsLive journalist Cross adds that the indications are that Godfrey is more likely to join Borussia Dortmund this summer, rather than the newly-promoted Yorkshire club.
That is no surprise given that Sky Sports reported last month that the former York City defender is valued at £50million by Norwich.
We do not see Leeds spending anywhere near that much on a single player this summer, even if it is on a highly-rated English centre-back like the York-born defender.
Marcelo Bielsa is unlikely to make too many changes to his side this summer – Cross even says that only four or five players will be brought in ahead of next season.
The Leeds manager is a fan of consistency and we’ve seen with some of his arrivals in the last few transfer windows that it takes a lot for players to adapt to his system and meet his high fitness standards.
Throwing anywhere near £50million on a player is a huge gamble for a newly-promoted club – especially one that hasn’t been in the Premier League for 16 years.
And even if Leeds were going to spend that much, they would do it on White himself rather than a replacement for him.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites want to sign this defender who went viral at the last World Cup.