Leeds in hunt to sign £20m-rated left-back with CL experience – report
Leeds United are one of four Premier League clubs interested in signing Shakhtar Donetsk left-back Mykola Matviyenko, according to 90min.
Everton, West Ham and Wolves are also said to be keen on the 24-year-old Ukraine international, who is valued around £20million by Europa League semi-finalists Shakhtar.
90min adds that Arsenal have recently dropped out of the race to sign Matviyenko after reaching an agreement to sign Gabriel Magalhaes from Lille.
Matviyenko is a versatile left-back who can also play at centre-back so the Ukranian defender could kill two birds with one stone for Leeds this summer.
Marcelo Bielsa is yet to find a centre-back replacement for Ben White – although reports suggest that a move for Freiburg’s Robin Koch is likely to happen – and left-back Barry Douglas has been linked with Celtic [Sky Sports].
However, The Athletic journalist Phil Hay wrote this week that “there’s been no more talk about a left-back” and that suggests Bielsa is happy with his options in that area of that squad.
Matviyenko might not be a bad signing if Leeds did press on with trying to land the Ukraine international before the transfer window closes.
However, £20million seems very steep for a player who has never played domestic football outside of Ukraine.
Still, Matviyenko has plenty of Champions League and Europa League experience which has pitted him against some of the top sides in European football.
Last season he played a key role in earning a 1-1 draw with Manchester City before his side dropped into the Europa League and beat Benfica, Wolfsburg and Basel before eventually losing to Inter Milan in the semi-finals.
Stats by WyScout show that Matviyenko averaged 5.18 interceptions and 9.6 recoveries per 90 minutes of footbal last season while the 24-year-old also won 58.8 per cent of aerial duels, 71.1 per cent of all defensive duels and completed 93.2 per cent of his passes.
Matviyenko has a good reading of of the game while his passing stats show that if he’s played at centre-back, he can be trusted to move the ball out of the defence in the way that Bielsa likes.
However, we just don’t see a move for him materialising due to the price-tag and what Hay reported about Leeds’ waning interest in left-backs.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites are in talks to sign this £12million-rated defender.