Leeds United’s striker search is ongoing and one name who could arrive at Elland Road is Roma’s Artem Dovbyk.
Leeds United are in quite desperate need of a new striker ahead of the start of the new Premier League season.
Daniel Farke’s side take on Everton on August 18th and so there is little over a week for the 49ers to find Farke a new striker.
Whilst the summer transfer window runs until the 1st of September, Leeds United need to make every game and every point count next season and currently the club’s striker options are lacking.
Mateo Joseph is poised to leave Leeds United and so too is Patrick Bamford and Joe Gelhardt. With just Joel Piroe and Lukas Nmecha as experienced first team options, Farke may be getting increasingly concerned about the lack of firepower in his side right now.
Whilst Rodrigo Muniz is Leeds United’s no.1 striker target right now, Roma and Ukraine striker Artem Dovbyk could yet arrive at Elland Road before the end of the summer transfer window.
Photo by Luciano Rossi/AS Roma via Getty ImagesArtem Dovbyk update as Leeds United weigh up transfer swoop
Leeds United have been heavily linked with a move for Dovbyk over the last week or so, but the Whites aren’t alone with fellow Premier League side West Ham also understood to be interested in signing the 28-year-old striker who scored 12 goals in 32 Serie A games for Roma last time round.
Recently, news broke that Dovbyk has handed in a transfer request at Roma, but the race for his signature isn’t really going anywhere right now. An emerging report from Italian outlet Calcio Mercato has revealed that Serie A rivals AC Milan and Juventus have already knocked back the chance to sign Dovbyk this summer.
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Meanwhile, Villarreal have recently been linked with Dovbyk, but the Spanish side have also backed out of a deal due to the high asking price for the striker. Roma paid €38.5m to sign Dovbyk from Girona last season, there is also a 10% sell on fee, and so Roma are looking for no less than €40m (£34.9m) for Dovbyk this summer.
Photo by Image Photo Agency/Getty ImagesArtem Dovbyk vs Joel Piroe in 2024/25 – who was better?
Playing in Serie A and playing in the Championship is a completely different ball game. But there’s a lot we can derive about Dovbyk and the type of striker he is when comparing his stats to that of Piroe. Last season, Piroe won the Championship Golden Boot with 19 goals across the season.
And comparing Dovbyk’s 2024/25 stats with Piroe’s, we see that the two are very clearly matched. Both are left-footed strikers who don’t often score headed goals, who both average just under one shot on target every game, and who both have a goal conversion rate of 19%.
Given that, Dovbyk could be a great fit to lead the line for Leeds, as Piroe was last season. But Dovbyk might have that bit of extra star quality, and top flight pedigree that Piroe doesn’t have yet.
At £35million though, and now 28 years old, it’s a lot for a striker who’d still be a big gamble for Leeds United, given how he’s never played in England before.