Good Morning. It's Thursday 24th September, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...
Bielsa gives green light to sign Bayern Munich star
German media outlet 'Fussball Transfers' are suggesting Marcelo Bielsa has given Leeds the green light to negotiate a deal with Bayern Munich for midfielder Michael Cuisance. The former French International youth player, who has just turned 21, made nine Bundesliga appearances for Bayern last term following his €10m nove from Borussia Mönchengladbach last summer. Trying to prise Cuisance away from the Allianz Arena won't be easy. He has already rejected a move to Marseille in the last week saying...
I saw that the club was interested, and I'm flattered. Marseille is a beautiful story. They're a legendary club who have won the Champions League. The coach has done a good job by getting them back into the Champions League. I'm happy for them. But I want to continue to focus on my project at Bayern.
Bielsa's former club wanted Cuisance on loan, whilst Leeds would be looking for a permanent deal. This may give Leeds the edge!
Leeds set to complete the £17m signing of Llorente
Diego Llorente has said his goodbyes at the Anoeta Stadium, passed his medical and is on his way to Elland Road for a fee of 17m.
Having missed out on the signings of Ben White and Josko Gvardiol in recent weeks, Leeds will be delighted to land a defender of Llorente's class without paying through the nose for him.
Where does this leave Cooper? Had Leeds signed Gvardiol, the young Croatian would have only had been a fringe player at Elland Road leaving Koch and Cooper to build a partnership. I'm sure we would have seen cameo roles and filling in for injuries, but in the main stay he was seen as a player for the future.
The same can't be said of Llorente, who is looking to add to his 5 senior caps for Spain. He was on the bench for both of Spain’s Nations League games this month and is considered one of the best centre backs in La Liga. Bielsa sometimes plays three centre backs, but only when playing against teams with two centre forwards. Are Coopers days numbered at Elland Road?
Hull City making audacious Gotts swoop
Robbie Gotts is is in talks about a possible season long loan to Hull City. The Tigers are flying high in the third tier of the football league, including an impressive victory over makeshift Leeds side in the Carabau Cup. Grant McCann would love to make it a hattrick of former Leeds players, having already signed Mallik Wilkes and Louis Coyle during the Summer.
In order to persuade Gotts to go to the KCOM Stadium, McCann must compete with Huddersfield Town which won't be easy as their Manager Carlos Corberan was, until recently U23's Manager at Elland Road.