Tyler Adams was absent from RB Leipzig’s training session on Tuesday as the £15 million-rated USA international nears a move to Premier League outfit Leeds United, as reported by Sport1.
You get the feeling that Marcelo Bielsa would have loved Tyler Adams.
Blessed with a ferocious work ethic, real quality in and out of possession, not to mention the tactical awareness required to adapt to a variety of different positions, the all-action American is, in many ways, everything Bielsa could possibly want from a new central midfielder.
But Jesse Marsch is pulling the strings these days, of course. And, having handed Adams his senior debut with New York Red Bulls back in 2017 before reuniting at Leipzig, it seems that Marsch will be sharing a dressing room with the New York-born 23-year-old for a third time as Leeds edge ever closer to a £15 million deal (ESPN).
According to The Athletic, talks with Adams are now at an advanced stage. He could be unveiled – along with Feyenoord’s Luis Sinisterra – before the end of this week.
Leeds United closing in on RB Leipzig’s Tyler Adams
And with Adams conspicuous by his absence from RB Leipzig’s first-team training on Tuesday, things appear to be progressing at a rate of knots. The hard-running enforcer struggled for game-time after Marsch was replaced by Domenico Tedesco at the German giants, and has fallen even further down the pecking order after Leipzig snapped up Xaver Schlager from top-flight rivals Wolfsburg for £10 million.
“He has an unbelievable will to win,” former Leipzig boss Ralf Rangnick once said of Adams, comparing the Yorkshire-born midfielder to one Joshua Kimmich.
“He wants to win every match and every training game. He’s never satisfied. He always strives for improvement. And in terms of his tactical understanding, I prefer to see him in central midfield because then he’s at the heart of the action.
“I see him similarly to Joshua Kimmich; In central midfield as a six or an eight. He has now started to score and create a few goals and I see his potential as being very high. The sky is the limit. As long as he maintains his mentality – and he won’t lose it – I don’t see any limits.”
Interestingly, Adams has featured fairly regularly as a right-back for the US national team. This could come in very handy, given Stuart Dallas and Luke Ayling’s injury issues.
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