With the Leeds United takeover still not confirmed by the EFL, the whole of Elland Road is currently at a standstill.
Any deals involving players seem to have been put on hold, and the club continue their struggle to find the successor to Sam Allardyce, who left after failing to save the Whites from relegation last season.
One man who is waiting patiently for all of this to blow over is the man who created it all in the first place, and that’s Andrea Radrizzani, with a couple of articles from Italy claiming that he is eyeing up deals for a striker and two defenders at Leeds.
The first comes from Il Secolo XIX, relayed by Club Doria 46, as the Serie B side are eyeing up Mateo Joseph to improve their attack.
Described as a ‘point of reference’ for Leeds’ U21s, the 19-year-old has made six appearances for the first-team, but has made most of his damage in the Premier League 2, with 16 goals and one assist in 26 appearances.
Radrizzani is meeting Andrea Pirlo on Monday to discuss the future of the squad, and one of the benefits of going for Joseph is his Spanish passport, which means he wouldn’t count as a non-EU citizen.
It’s made clear that while Leeds ‘wouldn’t want to lose him outright’, they ‘could consider a loan’ that could potentially include an option to buy.
He isn’t the only player, though, with two defenders at Elland Road also on Radrizzani’s radar, with the same Il Secolo XIX, also relayed by Club Doria 46, revealing that Leo Hjelde and Diogo Monteiro are being targeted.
Unlike Joseph, Leeds ‘would like to monetise’ from the sale of the young Norwegian, but Sampdoria could only do this if they sell either Nicola Murru or Tommaso Augello.
As for Diogo Monteiro, he was bought from Servette for £1m a year ago, and the expectation is that he will ‘be sent on loan’ this season to gain more experience, as a few Championship sides lurk.
However, ‘an experience abroad cannot be excluded’, which is where Sampdoria and Radrizzani could come in.
