{"id":325718,"date":"2025-08-07T17:14:17","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T17:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/325718\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T17:14:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T17:14:17","slug":"leeds-plotting-move-to-sign-26m-monster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/325718\/","title":{"rendered":"Leeds plotting move to sign \u00a326m “monster”"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a sensational campaign in the 2024\/25 Championship season, Leeds United<\/a> earned promotion back to the Premier League. The Whites will now look to break the curse of newly-promoted teams in the last two seasons and survive in the top flight, which all six previous sides have failed to do.<\/p>\n

To help with their cause, Daniel Farke<\/a>\u2019s side have had a busy summer transfer window so far. The first addition saw them bring former Manchester City academy graduate Lukas Nmecha to the club. The striker signed a two-year deal<\/a> at Elland Road after leaving Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg at the end of his contract.<\/p>\n

\"Lukas<\/p>\n

However, the 26-year-old might not be the only centre-forward who switches to Elland Road this summer.<\/p>\n

Leeds\u2019 next striker target<\/strong><\/p>\n

With Patrick Bamford something of an outcast at Leeds, Joel Piroe is really the only recognised number nine. Signing Nmecha was a necessary call, but their depth up front could be about to get even stronger if this next deal goes through.<\/p>\n

Now, according to a report from journalist Sebastien Vidal<\/a>, the Whites are considering a move to sign Al-Hilal and Serbia striker Aleksandar Mitrovic.<\/p>\n

The Yorkshire side are believed to be \u2018in the race\u2019 for the experienced attacker after it was confirmed the Saudi side \u2018are open to selling\u2019 their number nine this summer.<\/p>\n

\"aleksandar-mitrovic-al-hilal\"<\/p>\n

However, this will not be a straightforward deal to do. Leeds are set to face competition for Mitrovic\u2019s signature, with Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur also showing a keen interest. Al-Hilal are said to have set an asking price of \u00a326m for the 30-year-old to return to the English top flight this summer.<\/p>\n

Why Mitrovic would be a good signing<\/strong><\/p>\n

If there is one thing Mitrovic will bring to a side, it is goals. He is an experienced number nine and, having already played in the Premier League, knows what to expect upon a potential return to the competition, this time in a Leeds shirt.<\/p>\n

\"mitrovic-al-hilal\"<\/p>\n

His recent form for Al-Hilal has been impressive. The Serbian forward, who first made a name for himself at Belgian side Anderlecht, scored 28 goals and grabbed seven assists in 36 games<\/a> for the club last season. That included 19 Saudi Pro League goals, placing him sixth<\/a> in the race for the Golden Boot.<\/p>\n

Certainly, a huge advantage to signing the striker is his Premier League experience. He has 38 top-flight goals in 129 games<\/a>, playing for both Newcastle United and Fulham.<\/p>\n

On two occasions, he has scored double-figure goals, including bagging 14 in his final campaign with the Cottagers. That was a season in which Statman Dave called him<\/a> a \u201cmonster\u201d of a striker.<\/p>\n

There is certainly a case to be made that Mitrovic would be a huge upgrade on Nmecha. The former Man City striker has experience in the top flight, having played twice in the competition<\/a> for the Citizens. That, however, is nowhere near the amount of experience the Serbian star has.<\/p>\n

On top of that, the 26-year-old, who was born in Hamburg, Germany, struggled last season for Wolfsburg. He played 19 Bundesliga games<\/a>, but only bagged three goals, and struggled with injuries throughout the campaign.<\/p>\n

\"wolfsburg-lukas-nmecha-leeds-transfer\"<\/p>\n

Generally speaking, there is a stark contrast between each player\u2019s records from the top flight. Nmecha has played five full seasons<\/a> in top-flight football for both Anderlecht and Wolfsburg.<\/p>\n

However, he has just 30 goals in that time, an average of six per campaign.<\/p>\n

In the same timeframe, the last five top-flight seasons<\/a> he has played, Mitrovic has bagged 73 goals. That leaves him with an average of 14.6 strikes per season, a far better success rate than Nmecha\u2019s in the past five seasons.<\/p>\n\n

Mitrovic and Nmecha – last 5 top-flight seasons compared<\/p>\n<\/tr>\n\n

Season (club)<\/p>\n

Mitrovic<\/a> games\/goals<\/p>\n

Season (club)<\/p>\n

Nmecha<\/a> games\/goals<\/p>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

2018\/19 (Fulham)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

37 games, 11 goals<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

2020\/21 (Anderlecht)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

31 games, 14 goals<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

2020\/21 (Fulham)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

27 games, 3 goals<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

2021\/22 (Wolfsburg)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

25 games, 8goals<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

2022\/23 (Fulham)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

24 games, 14 goals<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

2022\/23 (Wolfsburg)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

16 games, 4 goals<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

2023\/24 (Al-Hilal)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

28 games, 28 goals<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

2023\/24 (Wolfsburg)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

3 games, 1 goal<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

2024\/25 (Al-Hilal)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

23 games, 19 goals<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

2024\/25 (Wolfsburg)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

19 games, 3 goals<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n

Stats from Transfermarkt<\/p>\n<\/tr>\n

All things considered, Mitrovic would be a huge upgrade on the new Leeds star Nmecha. He is far more experienced in the Premier League and has a fantastic goal record over the past few seasons.<\/p>\n

\"aleksandar-mitrovic-fulham-premier-league\"<\/p>\n

For a fee of just \u00a326m, this is a fantastic market opportunity for the Whites, signing a player who is a genuine Premier League goalscorer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a sensational campaign in the 2024\/25 Championship season, Leeds United earned promotion back to the Premier League.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325719,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8814],"tags":[748,393,4884,1860,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-325718","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leeds","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-leeds","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114988611473873330","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325718","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=325718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}