Andrei Girotto appears to have ruled out a potential move to Premier League giants Leeds United, telling Ouest France that he wants to see out his contract at Ligue 1 outfit Nantes.
Tuesday night could hardly have gone any better for Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds.
As Norwich and Newcastle played out a 1-1 draw that does neither side any good, Elland Road exploded in a hurricane of whirling limbs and palpable belief as Raphinha stepped up to plant a stoppage-time penalty into the Crystal Palace net.
After being asphyxiated by Graham Potter’s Brighton during Saturday’s miserable goalless draw at the Amex, a hard-fought three points allowed Leeds, in Bielsa’s own words, to ‘breathe again’.
Successive clean sheets for the first-time all season helped calmed the nerves too, after a night in which Liam Cooper and Diego Llorente stood tall and Stuart Dallas proved that, even in a position the Irishman would probably describe as his third favourite, he was more than a match for Palace talisman Wilfried Zaha.
Another solid showing next time out against Brentford and the clamour for defensive additions during the January transfer window may be placed on the backburner.
Not that a rumoured £4 million deal Girotto, a 29-year-old Brazilian plying his trade on the other side of the Channel, was ever likely to happen next month.
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“I want to stay a little while here. I feel very good here,” explains Girotto, a defender who, like Llorente Robin Koch and former loan star Ben White, possesses the ball-playing skills and positional awareness to slot into a defensive midfield role.
“I’m very happy and very proud to be in my fifth season at Nantes. I have never stayed so long at one club.
“I live well in Nantes, where I hope to complete my contract.”
Girotto’s current deal, by the way, is not due to expire until 2024.
Homme du Match, the France-based publication who first reported Leeds’ interest, claim that the Yorkshire giants have been watching Girotto since January 2020, when they were still a Championship team with their sights fixed on promotion.
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