{"id":1029481,"date":"2026-06-16T04:53:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T04:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1029481\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T04:53:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T04:53:17","slug":"leeds-united-keen-on-union-berlins-diogo-leite-in-free-transfer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1029481\/","title":{"rendered":"Leeds United keen on Union Berlin’s Diogo Leite in free transfer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leeds United<\/a> have been constantly linked with Union Berlin\u2019s Danilho Doekhi throughout 2026, but his teammate could be the man actually on the 49ers\u2019 radar.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Daniel Farke\u2019s attack this summer is going to take most of the attention in the transfer window. But, the club do require reinforcements at the back.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a distinct lack of left-footed depth behind regular starters Gabriel Gudmundsson<\/a> and Pascal Struijk. The latter could well be on his way if the price is right<\/a> for an exit, and Leeds need to add in the event of his departure.<\/p>\n

Leeds United reportedly in the running for Union Berlin\u2019s Diogo Leite amid links to Danilho Doekhi<\/p>\n

Looking at links to centre-backs, fans have clamoured to learn more about Danilho Doekhi<\/a> ever since links emerged in January<\/a>. The towering, goal-scoring defender looks a viable free transfer pick-up for any club, hence United intrigue<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, it looks to me as though Doekhi\u2019s speculated interest at Elland Road is merely an agent keen to maximise interest in his client, who is out of contract at the end of the month.<\/p>\n

Doekhi is not the only Union Berlin centre-back due to leave the Bundesliga club for free, though. Portuguese teammate Diogo Leite<\/a> is also available for nothing.<\/p>\n

Importantly, Leite is a left-footer that could perhaps contribute<\/a> towards filling the void of Struijk leaving. And, journalist Rudy Galetti<\/a> reports that United are \u201cpushing hard\u201d to sign him.<\/p>\n

Alongside Leeds, supposedly, are Turkish giants Besiktas and an unnamed PIF-backed Saudi Arabian outfit. As a result, you\u2019d anticipate that Leite will be subject to very lucrative offers from those two.<\/p>\n

Leeds United could make smart free transfer with Diogo Leite move<\/p>\n

Standing at 6ft3in and being a left-footer, Leite would make much more sense for Leeds\u2019 squad building than Doekhi.<\/p>\n

As much as I wouldn\u2019t really complain if Leeds added Doekhi to the squad, it doesn\u2019t make all that much sense for balance. We have plenty of right-sided defenders to play in just two positions: Jaka Bijol, Joe Rodon, Sebastiaan Bornauw, and James Justin.<\/p>\n

Whereas, we don\u2019t have any other left-footers other than Struijk that can play on the left of the three. Leite would help relieve some of that stress as a depth signing.<\/p>\n

In terms of profile, like Doekhi, Leite is strong in the air and would cover Struijk\u2019s ball progression quite nicely. I wouldn\u2019t be best pleased if we sold Struijk and replaced him with a free 27-year-old.<\/p>\n

But, if we ended up with (let\u2019s say) Ladislav Krejci<\/a> and Leite, that would be a shrewd succession plan to losing Struijk.<\/p>\n

0%
\n Love<\/p>\n

0%
\n Funny<\/p>\n

0%
\n Wow<\/p>\n

0%
\n Sad<\/p>\n

0%
\n Angry<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leeds United have been constantly linked with Union Berlin\u2019s Danilho Doekhi throughout 2026, but his teammate could be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1029482,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8814],"tags":[748,202547,284246,25764,393,4884,1860,2922,142361,142362,16,76898,15],"class_list":["post-1029481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-leeds","tag-britain","tag-danilho-doekhi","tag-diogo-leite","tag-elland-road","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-leeds","tag-leeds-united","tag-lufc","tag-the-whites","tag-uk","tag-union-berlin","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116758001163563594","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1029481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1029481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1029481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1029482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1029481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1029481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1029481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}