By Daniel Feliciano

18th Apr, 2023 | 8:10pm

Abde Ezzalzouli will stay at Barcelona next season amid Leeds United transfer approach

Leeds United have been dealt a blow in their pursuit of Barcelona winger Abde Ezzalzouli after the Spanish club decided to keep him for next season.

The youngster is currently on loan at Osasuna and has impressed in La Liga this season, leading to the Whites to hold talks with his agent about a potential move to Elland Road in the summer.

But Barcelona have now opted to keep hold of him at least for pre-season with the intention of integrating him into the first-team, although if they are in need of money due to their financial issues then he could potentially become available.

Leeds and Nottingham Forest are said to be the most interested clubs according to Mundo Deportivo (18 April) and while there have been no official offers yet, Barcelona are expecting to receive formal bids sooner or later.

No panic

Leeds have clearly got a vision in place for young attackers and Abde will no doubt have been a great fit on the left wing.

But his decision to stay put is hardly a killer blow for the Whites, considering the options we already have in attack and the fact we look likely to add Ilias Akhomach to that roster in the summer too.

Luis Sinisterra, Wilfried Gnonto, Crysencio Summerville, Jack Harrison, Brenden Aaronson and Georginio Rutter are all more than capable of playing in those wide, attacking positions.

It’s possible that one or two of those could leave in the summer, especially if the club are to be relegated following some poor results in recent weeks, but there is still plenty of cover and depth there.

Abde is an “incredible” youngster, but if he’d rather sit on the bench or in the stands at the Camp Nou than compete for a place at Elland Road then he probably doesn’t belong here anyway.

In other Leeds news, the club are set complete their first summer signing in “the next few hours”.