Victor Orta was under no illusions that Leeds United would be up against it if they wanted to bring a highly-rated and ever-improving Germany international to Elland Road this summer.
And, although a deal for Robin Koch cannot be placed in the ‘impossible’ category, it is perhaps best described as ‘improbable’ when bona fide European giants like Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan are also sniffing around.
According to Tuttomercatoweb, the 2010 European Champions have identified the classy, commanding Freiburg centre-back as the kind of rising talent capable of taking Inter back to the top of the Italian game.
What’s more, with Diego Godin’s ill-fated spell at the San Siro expected to come to a premature and rather underwhelming conclusion sooner rather than later, Koch could be tasked with replacing one of the world’s best defenders at one of the world’s biggest clubs.
So if Orta still has his heart set on agreeing a deal with the Joachim Low favourite in the months to come, Leeds’ director of football might be wiping the odd bead of sweat off his designer specs this morning.
“I’ll give you an example, Koch playing at his level now is really difficult for the Championship, it is another level. But we are always evaluating because perhaps, in a moment, he could be available. Or we could get into another league and then he could be available,” the director of football told the YEP, suggesting that the Bundesliga ace was a man Leeds were planning to look at if or when their Premier League return was secured.
Links with the likes of Tottenham, West Ham, Benfica and RB Leipzig are one thing. But with Inter Milan now throwing their hat into the ring, the £18 million-rated Koch may now be out of Leeds’ grasp – Premier League football or not.
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