{"id":956786,"date":"2026-05-13T10:01:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T10:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/956786\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T10:01:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T10:01:18","slug":"leeds-united-deal-locked-in-for-hidemasa-morita-after-premier-league-survival-in-fresh-twist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/956786\/","title":{"rendered":"Leeds United deal locked in for Hidemasa Morita after Premier League survival in fresh twist"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Hidemasa<\/p>\n

Credit: Imago<\/p>\n

\"Daniel <\/p>\n

Wed 13 May 2026 9:40, UK <\/p>\n

Leeds United<\/a> have reportedly locked in a two-year deal for Hidemasa Morita to join as a free agent this summer.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Morita first emerged as a target for the Whites earlier this year, with reports suggesting Leeds would first have to clinch top-flight survival.<\/p>\n

Contrasting reports then appeared suggesting a deal was not as close as suggested elsewhere, but the saga appears to have taken another twist.<\/p>\n

With Leeds\u2019 safety being secured last weekend, it appears Morita has already committed to his Elland Road move.<\/p>\n

That is amid a fresh Leeds transfer update on Morita<\/a> emerging from abroad on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udea8 LEEDS UNITED TRANSFER HUB \ud83d\udea8 <\/p>\n

Breaking news on incoming signings, Elland Road departures, and 49ers transfer strategy.<\/p>\n

Get 24\/7 updates from your definitive Whites source<\/p>\n

Leeds\u2019 survival secures Hidemasa Morita transfer<\/p>\n

Leeds sources suggested Morita may not even be a target<\/a> for this summer\u2019s transfer window, let alone the midfielder having already verbally agreed to sign.<\/p>\n

But reports over in Portugal, where Morita plies his trade for Sporting CP, continue to push ahead with talk of a deal being locked in.<\/p>\n\nHidemasa Morita<\/td>\n2025-26<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nGames (starts)<\/td>\n30 (22)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nGoals\/assists<\/td>\n1\/4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nKey passes per game<\/td>\n0.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nTackles per game<\/td>\n1.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nAverage Sofascore<\/a> rating<\/td>\n6.95<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

A Bola<\/a> report that the 31-year-old has a two-year deal on the table waiting to be signed with the option of a further year.<\/p>\n

Morita dreams of playing in the Premier League, it is claimed, and he intends to now sign said deal with Leeds confirmed for another season in the top flight.<\/p>\n

\"HidemasaCredit: Imago and Breaking Media<\/p>\n

Sporting have already been made aware that Morita has no intention of signing a new deal when his existing one expires next month.<\/p>\n

Ruben Amorim once raved about Morita<\/p>\n

Morita joined Sporting for a fee below \u00a33million from Santa Clara in 2022 and has proved more than good value for money.<\/p>\n

He has impressed over a number of seasons now and would attract a fee of eight figures if it was not for his contract being up.<\/p>\n

Ruben Amorim managed Morita at Sporting prior to taking over at Manchester United and he loved working with the midfielder.<\/p>\n

Speaking in 2022, Amorim said of Morita: \u201cAll coaches should train at least one Japanese player to understand what it means to be a player who is always ready to help the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe apologises a thousand times a day; he\u2019s very respectful; he plays in any position; he always wants to learn. I only have good things to say about Morita.<\/p>\n

\u201cJapanese players are increasingly entering Europe and he has a lot of technical ability. He came to play as a number six, he can also play as an eight. <\/p>\n

\"Hidemasa<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very happy with him and I\u2019m glad we chose him for the value he brought and the man he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amorim is right to point out that Morita is also versatile, having played in a few different areas of central midfielder \u2013 defensive, attacking and just a pure central midfielder.<\/p>\n

However, he has been mainly used in a deeper role this season, which is likely where Daniel Farke<\/a> sees him at Leeds next season.<\/p>\n

That is assuming he does join which, if reports from Portugal are anything to go by, certainly appears to be the case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Credit: Imago Wed 13 May 2026 9:40, UK Leeds United have reportedly locked in a two-year deal for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":956787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8814],"tags":[748,393,4884,71474,1860,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-956786","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-hidemasa-morita","12":"tag-leeds","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116566693771242082","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956786","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=956786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/956787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=956786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=956786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=956786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}