{"id":623292,"date":"2025-12-10T02:27:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T02:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/623292\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T02:27:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T02:27:19","slug":"leeds-uniteds-martin-baturina-interest-spells-trouble-for-joel-piroe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/623292\/","title":{"rendered":"Leeds United’s Martin Baturina interest spells trouble for Joel Piroe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leeds United<\/a> are reportedly eyeing a move for Como attacking midfield talent Martin Baturina<\/a>, but if they are to sign him permanently, they\u2019ll require a sale it seems.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The January window is mere weeks away for Daniel Farke<\/a> and the 49ers. As a result, there should be plans already being formulated around how we can enhance our chances of staying up.<\/p>\n

A change to a 3-5-2<\/a> might boost them inherently, and if so, Leeds will need investment to strengthen options<\/a> for that setup.<\/p>\n

Most Read on LeedsAllOver<\/p>\n

Leeds United enter talks to sign Martin Baturina from Como \u2013 Fabrizio Romano<\/p>\n

Croatia and Como star Martin Baturina has been a long-standing target of United\u2019s for some time<\/a>. You can see why after his starring performances in the league and Champions League for fomer club Dinamo Zagreb.<\/p>\n

The latest comes from Fabrizio Romano<\/a>, who reveals that the Whites have already initiated talks with the Serie A side over his signature in the January window. That is despite only joining Como in the summer for \u00a321million<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBaturina is a player Como still wants to focus on, they\u2019re not thinking about a January exit. I\u2019ll tell you the behind-the-scenes story. In the last few days, Leeds has been in touch, the teams are starting to move,\u201d\u00a0Romano said on his\u00a0YouTube channel.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"Martin Baturina has been a reported target for Leeds United since the summer of 2024. (REUTERS\/Bruna Casas)<\/p>\n

\u201cLeeds has proposed opening talks with Como and the player\u2019s agents about a possible transfer, even a permanent one. Leeds would have practically repaid Baturina to Como. The response I understand from both Como and the player was \u2018no, thanks\u2019. Baturina wants to stay at Como, he believes in the project Como is happy with Baturina, with how he trains, the potential he has.<\/p>\n

\u201cBaturina continues to work hard, but the door has been closed for Leeds. In short, it also marks some clarity regarding the rumours that have been circulating about the future of the Croatian midfielder.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

If Leeds United are intent on spending big to sign an attacking midfield, Joel Piroe\u2019s days are numbered<\/p>\n

Romano\u2019s update is pretty firm on Leeds\u2019 chances of signing Baturina \u2013 that it probably won\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s an incredible talent<\/a> and Como won\u2019t be willing to part ways this early into his time in Italy. That being said, Leeds being supposedly willing to pay as much as \u00a321million does paint a pretty vivid picture for others in the squad.<\/p>\n

Again, as Leeds prepare for the January window, it\u2019s worth nothing managing director Robbie Evans\u2019 previous comments<\/a>. After a disappointing end to the summer window, Evans outlined how Leeds had \u2018maxed out\u2019 their PSR allowance through their spending. As a result, the only way for Leeds to boost what they can spend in January is to make a sale or two.<\/p>\n

Who leaves midway through a tense survival battle is hard to say. But, one fairly obvious dispensable figure is Joel Piroe.<\/p>\n

\"\"Joel Piroe hasn\u2019t been able to make an impact for Leeds United this season. (REUTERS\/David Klein)<\/p>\n

In losing the Dutchman, I can already see many Leeds fans losing their minds. He\u2019s the club\u2019s best finisher and we need goals, so why sell? But, there\u2019s so much more nuance to it. Leeds have looked so much better since becoming a horrible side to play against. Piroe simply cannot contribute to that style of play as a starter.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s a side out there willing to give us an eight-figure sum in January, it could free us up to bring in someone of Baturina\u2019s calibre and quality. And, maybe even a second signing too, with how PSR and amortisation works<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For Piroe, he\u2019d be more than justified to voice his frustration<\/a>. He scored 33 goals and registered nine assists across two Championship seasons. Now, he\u2019s not what we currently need across 90 minutes.<\/p>\n

The value he retains, relative to how little he\u2019s being used now, means he\u2019s probably priority number one to cash in on next month.<\/p>\n

Read more: Leeds United finally seeing best of Dominic Calvert-Lewin.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leeds United are reportedly eyeing a move for Como attacking midfield talent Martin Baturina, but if they are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623293,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8814],"tags":[748,25764,393,4884,12413,1860,2922,142361,55604,142362,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-623292","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leeds","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-elland-road","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-joel-piroe","13":"tag-leeds","14":"tag-leeds-united","15":"tag-lufc","16":"tag-martin-baturina","17":"tag-the-whites","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115692913278318933","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623292","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=623292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}