Leeds United are planning to launch a formal offer for a highly rated Argentinian international currently plying his trade in Ligue 1, according to reports.<\/p>\n
Promoted back to the Premier League with a 100-point season <\/strong><\/a>under Daniel Farke<\/strong><\/a>, Leeds are determined to avoid the fate of recent Championship winners.<\/p>\n Each of the last six promoted clubs have suffered immediate relegation, and United\u2019s hierarchy are intent on breaking that cycle.<\/p>\n Backed by 49ers Enterprises, the club is expected to have a transfer budget of up to \u00a3150 million this summer.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Their previous attempts at Premier League spending largely finished in disaster, as high wages and questionable relegation clauses left the club in a precarious position after relegation two years ago.<\/p>\n The sales of Crysencio Summerville, Archie Gray and Georginio Rutter last summer were just part of the financial fallout from that relegation.<\/p>\n However, with those sales balancing the books, plus income to come from sponsorship deals, further sales and Premier League TV rights, United have a competitive top-flight budget.<\/p>\n According to Foot Mercato in France, Leeds are ready to submit an offer worth \u00a338 million for a defender who has made over 40 appearances in all competitions this season and is currently under contract until 2028.<\/p>\n Should they do so, the offer would shatter the previous record fee paid for a defender, which saw Leeds fork out \u00a318 million for Rio Ferdinand<\/strong><\/a> from West Ham. It would also eclipse the \u00a336 million paid for Georginio Rutter.<\/p>\n MORE LEEDS COVERAGE ON F365\u2026 The club in question is open to a sale at the right price, and the player\u2019s comments this week have done little to rule out a summer move.<\/p>\n Leonardo Balerdi, a 26-year-old centre back in his sixth season with Marseille, refused to commit his future to the French club when speaking to La Provence this week.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t say [whether I\u2019ll stay],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I say it every year, I\u2019m very happy in Marseille. I feel good. I\u2019ve always said that I\u2019d like to bring something back here to Marseille. I still have that goal.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, I have to be focused on the last match. Afterwards, on the transfer window, we\u2019ll see, but I haven\u2019t looked at the offers.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, that\u2019s the most important thing. Afterwards, I don\u2019t know. I\u2019d like the team to be in the Champions League, and then I\u2019ll ask myself the question of my future.\u201d<\/p>\n While the French club are not under pressure to sell, they are understood to have placed a \u00a338 million valuation on Balerdi and would consider serious bids that match it. AS Roma are also monitoring the situation.<\/p>\n With plenty of counterattacking quality and Premier League experience in forward areas, the Whites are expected to invest in a goalkeeper and an improved defence this summer.<\/p>\n Their previous three seasons in the Premier League saw them concede a combined 211 goals, even shipping 54 when finishing ninth under Marcelo Bielsa in 2021\/21.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leeds United are planning to launch a formal offer for a highly rated Argentinian international currently plying his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8814],"tags":[748,393,163,4884,225,1860,2922,41900,12,101,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-87687","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-front-page","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-home-page","13":"tag-leeds","14":"tag-leeds-united","15":"tag-leonardo-balerdi","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-premier-league","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114478582551149097","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87687","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=87687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\ud83d\udc49\u00a0Marathe reveals Premier League plan as Farke stay confirmed \u2013 \u2018We are going to build the best squad\u2019<\/a>
\ud83d\udc49\u00a0Farke \u2018one of the reasons\u2019 Tottenham loanee Solomon \u2018will join Leeds\u2019 this summer<\/a>
\ud83d\udc49\u00a0Leeds United: Daniel Farke eyes Bundesliga star to replace Illan Meslier<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n