Leeds United were reportedly offered the chance to sign Manchester United defender Axel Tuanzebe on deadline day, with the Whites passing up on the option despite the departure of Diego Llorente.
According to the Athletic, Jesse Marsch’s side were given the opportunity by their English rivals to sign the 25-year-old centre-back, with Leeds currently looking light in the central defensive position having loaned out Llorente to AS Roma on the final day of the January transfer window.
Whilst Max Wober had been signed earlier in the window from RB Salzburg, Leeds could have benefitted from bringing in another right-sided defender, with Tuanzebe being proposed by United as a late option for the Elland Road side.
However, as we now know, the option was declined, with Tuanzebe instead completing a deadline day move to Stoke City, with the defender yet to even feature under Erik Ten Hag despite his homegrown status and his relationship with United supporters.
Indeed, whilst Leeds and United have one of the fiercest rivalries in all of English football, the pair have often done business with one another, with the Whites recently signing Dan James from Old Trafford in of the Yorkshire side’s biggest-ever transfers.
Once dubbed as ‘unbelievable’ by United teammate and England international Luke Shaw, Tuanzebe’s career has gone in a direction many didn’t expect given how good the defender was in his younger years. And for Leeds, the Whites might have made the right decision in passing up on the option to sign the 25-year-old.
Leeds signing Tuanzebe could have gone badly for Marsch
Leeds have arguably left themselves thin in the centre-back position following the departure of Llorente to Roma, however, a good case could be made that signing the wrong player is worse than bringing in nobody, and Tuanzebe could have been just that for Marsch.
Whilst the United academy graduate is hardly a bad player, Tuanzebe is in need of a new permanent home and a club where he will be the star of the defence, something that Leeds cannot offer given their current long-term plans with their squad, whilst is one of the youngest and most exciting in the Premier League.
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