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Leeds United and Fulham in battle to sign Derby County forward Tom Lawrence
Leeds United, Fulham and Southampton are among a clutch of teams interested in signing Derby County forward Tom Lawrence this summer, according to TeamTalk.
The news outlet reports that Bournemouth, Watford, West Brom, Nottingham Forest, Celtic, Rangers and clubs in Turkey are also interested in a deal for the 28-year-old Wales international.
Lawrence will be available as a free agent in the coming weeks as his contract at Derby is set to expire.
Derby were relegated to League One this season with their financial crisis leading to a points deduction.
Cheap and cheerful?
It won’t cost a lot of money to sign Lawrence.
Of course, the Whites will have to agree a signing-on fee and wages for the former Manchester United attacker but there won’t be any need for a transfer fee due to his contract situation in the East Midlands.
A lot of Leeds fans are taking pleasure in Derby’s demise and snapping up their best player and their captain would no doubt rub salt in the wounds of the newly-relegated League One side.
Lawrence scored 11 goals and supplied five assists in 38 Championship appearances as the Rams went down a division this season.
He can play as a centre-forward, left-winger and an attacking midfielder.
Leeds need to add players in almost all positions with their squad so weak in depth.
Signing a player who’s versatile, like Lawrence, would definitely make a lot of sense.
But, ultimately, Lawrence has spent a lot of his career in the Championship for a good reason – he’s a Championship player.
He’d be very good for a team like West Brom or Forest if they don’t win the Championship play-off final.
But for clubs like Leeds and Southampton, it’s better that he’s left alone.
In other Leeds United news, this player is considering his options at Elland Road despite only signing last year.