Despite spending big on various attackers and a couple of defenders in the summer, Leeds United, or more particularly Marcelo Bielsa, also wanted a central midfielder.
Their attempts to sign Michaël Cuisance from Bayern Munich and Rodrigo De Paul were a testament to that, and while one is finding a new life under Jorge Sampaoli at Marseille, the other is still a target.
That’s according to TuttoAtalanta, who explain that Atalanta have made the Udinese midfielder one of their targets for the upcoming summer transfer window, fully believing a move to their club would be the right move for the player.
The website states the operation could be done at ‘about €35m’, although the local Udine media reckon it would be at least €40m, which Atalanta would like to secure as a loan with the payment ‘deferred over two years’, much like they did with Duvan Zapata.
That being said, their path to the Argentine isn’t going to be easy, as there is a lot of competition for the midfielder, with ‘no shortage of sirens from the Spanish Liga and the Premier League, with ‘Leeds above all’, who ‘already tried in the last summer transfer market window’.
There it is again, Bielsa lurking in the shadows for one of his compatriots.