Leeds United look destined to miss out on Roma forward Ola Solbakken to Olympiakos as doubts continue to swirl about Wilfried Gnonto’s future at the Championship giants.
Wouldn’t it be so typically Leeds? A player who initially refused to play in order to force through a move to Everton and then returned to the first-team, scoring in a 4-3 win against the league leaders, only to then leave anyway on deadline day.
According to Sky Sports, the ‘Wilfried Gnonto to Everton’ story may yet have a late twist. Talks between the two clubs were reportedly re-started on deadline day.
And if Leeds had identified Ola Solbakken of Roma as a potential replacement for their much-coveted Italy international, those plans will now have to be shelved. Solbakken was pictured arriving in Athens on Friday, ahead of a medical at Greek giants Olympiakos.
Ola Solbakken will not be joining Leeds United
Sky Italia report the £4 million-rated Norway international moves to Piraeus on a ‘dry loan’. Essentially, a straightforward, season-long deal with no purchase clause included in his contract.
This comes some 24 hours after Leeds reportedly opened talks with Solbakken’s agent (Daily Mail). The versatile attacker struggled for game time at Roma; singled out for criticism by a typically fork-tongued Jose Mourinho. But he was outstanding as Bodo/Glimt won successive Eliteserien titles in 2020 and 2021.
Leeds, at least, have secured the signings of Joel Piroe, Glen Kamara and Ilia Gruev in the final week of the window. Solbakken, however, looks destined to follow in the footsteps of Nadiem Amiri as another who slipped through Daniel Farke’s fingers.
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