Daniel Feliciano

Tue 28 February 2023 12:10, UK

Leeds United will not be signing Inter Milan midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu despite rumours linking them with a move, according to Fabrizio Romano.

It was reported by Fichajes.net that Leeds were looking to sign the Turkey international this summer, as they try to bolster their squad to be more Premier League ready to push up the table.

But Romano has responded to these links in his Caught Offside Substack (28 February), claiming that the deal is “impossible” and that Calhanoglu is close to signing a new deal with Inter.

“I’m aware of some surprising reports linking Hakan Calhanoglu with Leeds, but it’s impossible, no way,” he wrote.

“Calhanoglu won’t join Leeds and he will stay at Inter. Also, new contract is under discussion and already advanced. He has never been close to Premier League clubs.”

No chance

Calhanoglu has had a great career across Europe in the Bundesliga and with both Inter and AC Milan in Serie A, but he isn’t what we need at Elland Road.

Our current attacking midfield options include young, pacy, dynamic attackers with great dribbling ability, an eye for a pass and an eye for goal. The Turkey international is a completely different profile to that.

He’s 28-years-old and while he has got great talent, his physical attributes have never been among his best and he would get found out in the Premier League.

He’d likely be pretty expensive too, so it seems like a good thing that Romano has thrown this deal into the fire immediately because it wouldn’t have been a great one for Leeds anyway.

We need a striker to fire our goal tally up next season more than another attacking midfielder, but first of all we need to ensure we’re still a Premier League side first.

In other Leeds news, an ex-FIFA referee has given his verdict on the penalty incident from the win v Southampton.

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