Nahitan Nandez confirmed only a couple of months ago that Leeds United tried to buy him during the Marcelo Bielsa era and now the Cagliari ace could join Serie A leaders Inter Milan on a free transfer.
When Marcelo Bielsa was confirmed as the new head coach of the Uruguayan nation team recently, the legendary tactician finally got his mitts on a player he had admired from afar for quite some time.
Leeds United reportedly submitted a £22 million bid to sign Nahitan Nandez back in 2020. Three years on, the hard-running midfielder appeared to confirm that the rumours of Leeds’ interest were indeed true, Bielsa and Nandez working together at last.
“When the new coaching staff took over (at Uruguay), they called me often. And the fact they thought of me made me very happy,” Nandez told Radio Sport 890 in September.
“When I almost left Cagliari, one of the possibilities was the team where Marcelo was (at the time).”
Leeds United wanted Nahitan Nandez
Like Leeds themselves, Nandez endured his fair share of difficulties since the summer of 2020. He also suffered relegation from the top-flight but, as Daniel Farke looks to bring Leeds back to the big-time, Nandez too is heading in the right direction once again.
After helping to drag Cagliari out from the depths of Serie B and into Serie A once again, Nandez could be rewarded by a move to one of the biggest clubs not only in Italy but in the whole of European football.
“Today we are negotiating with Inter, who want to sign Nandez,” agent Pablo Bentancur tells Carve Deportiva. His client’s contract expires in 2024.
“Nandez will be a free-agent in June. We have received several calls, including the one from Inter,” Bentancur adds. “He will become a name on the transfer market.”
On the way to Inter Milan
Nandez is not the only highly-talented player who slipped through Leeds’ fingers.
Josko Gvardiol and Cody Gakpo, now of Manchester City and Liverpool, were transfer targets not so long ago. PSV’s Dutch international Noa Lang admitted this week, meanwhile, that Leeds once made a £35 million bid for him before Bielsa got cold feet.
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