Club may be forced to sell £5m ace to Leeds with medical now planned

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Werder Bremen may have no choice but to sell Ilia Gruev with Championship giants Leeds United closing in on a £5 million deal for the Bundesliga ace. 

When you take a deep dive into a player who Daniel Farke has reportedly identified as a key addition to his Leeds United squad, it does not take long to realise what the athletic Bulgaria international will bring to the Elland Road table. 

At 6ft 1ins, 23-year-old Ilia Gruev adds physicality and height to a somewhat small Leeds side. Gruev is versatile too. So much so that, under Werder Bremen coach Ole Werner, he has thrived as a box-to-box ‘number eight’, a more defensively minded ‘number six’, and even as a centre-half on certain occasions. 

According to The Athletic, Gruev will undergo a medical at Leeds imminently after talks between the two clubs accelerated over the last 24 hours. The Werder academy graduate is already in England, the Bundesliga outfit confirming via their official website on Wednesday that he had missed training in order to conduct negotiations over a move away from the Weser Stadion. 

Leeds United close in on Ilia Gruev

Werder, in an ideal world, would retain the services of a homegrown player who has proven himself to be a valuable member of Werner’s squad. The club’s precarious financial situation, however, means sacrifices must be made. 

As Kicker point out, Weder need money. ‘Urgently’.

The club’s head of football Clements Fritz was hoping for a windfall of at least £3.5 million. Money which would then be invested in new signings. Reports suggesting that Leeds will pay somewhere in the region of £5 million instead, then, represents excellent business from a financial perspective, potentially for both clubs. 

Leeds are also keen on Rangers’ Glen Kamara and Celtic’s Matt O’Riley; the former far more attainable than the latter. Farke’s side have made offers for Fortuna Dusseldorf and Japan ace Ao Tanaka too. But they look set to miss out on both Nadiem Amiri and Kenny McLean. 

“Kenny McLean will not go to Leeds,” Norwich City coach David Wagner tells the Eastern Daily Press. “100 per cent, no.”