Leeds set sights on former Elland Rd ace at Euro club, valued over £9m – report
Leeds United have shown an interest in re-signing Ronaldo Vieira from Sampdoria, according to Il Secolo XIX.
The Italian newspaper reports that the Whites were one of a number of Premier League clubs who sent scouts to watch over the 22-year-old midfielder in July.
West Ham, Everton, Burnley, Leicester and Southampton are also said to have monitored the former Elland Road midfielder, who was sold by Leeds in 2018 for £7.7million.
After that deal went through, Andrea Radrizzani had to admit that selling Vieira was a “sacrifice” to help balance the books at the club because the midfielder was a “great player” [BBC Sport].
Kalvin Phillips has spoken highly of Vieira more recently with him telling Forza Football Academy on Instagram in May that he was “devastated” when the England Under-21 international was sold.
Phillips added: “He took the team by storm. For such a young kid to be able to play as well as he did, when he was here he was massive for us.
“He opened your eyes and you thought ‘we’ve got a very good, young player’.
“I was gutted when he left, but I still keep in touch with him. We talk on a day-to-day basis.”
Now Leeds have won promotion to the Premier League and have a Premier League-sized budget, it seems that they might set their sights on re-signing Vieira.
Clearly, he is highly-rated at Elland Road among the players and the hierarchy and it helps that Il Secolo XIX report the midfielder could be available for at least £9million, which should be affordable for the Yorkshire giants.
Since joining Sampdoria two years ago, Vieira has continued his development by earning 44 appearances in all competitions.
He is bound to be a better player than the one that Leeds sold and re-signing him this summer could be a major boost as it would add a familiar face to an area of the squad that might need a bit of extra depth.
However, Leeds’ priorities remain in the defence and up front as they desperately need a new centre-back or two, as well as a new striker.
In other Leeds United news, Phil Hay has shared what his sources have told him about Rodrigo.