Leeds United wanted Bamba Dieng on deadline day and the Marseille striker has finally grabbed his first goal of the season after his transfer drama.
We now know that Leeds snapped up Wilfried Gnonto from FC Zurich to bolster their attacking options.
Gnonto wasn’t the first target on deadline day; in fact, you could argue that he was third-choice.
Cody Gakpo was the top target heading into deadline day but Leeds couldn’t secure a deal for the PSV Eindhoven star.
Leeds United wanted Bamba Dieng
Leeds then turned to Bamba Dieng in what became something of a drama.
Andrea Radrizzani urged fans to welcome Dieng and forget about Gakpo for the time being with a £10million deal thought to be imminent.
The Athletic then reported that Dieng was rethinking the move at the airport as he considered leaving Leeds hanging to join Nice instead.
Dieng picked Nice but then saw his move there fall apart due to a failed medical, leaving him to stay at Marseille, who won’t have been ecstatic that he didn’t leave.
Boss Igor Tudor didn’t want Dieng around and left him out of the squad for the first eight games of the season and even left him out of the Champions League squad.
Dieng has now been reintegrated into the Marseille squad and made four successive substitute appearances against Angers, Ajaccio, PSG and Lens.
The 22-year-old was given a first start of the season on Saturday as Marseille took on Strasbourg – and Dieng offered a reminder of his quality.
Dieng opened the scoring for Marseille on the night and for himself on the season as he fired home inside the first 10 minutes.
Marseille couldn’t grab a win though as they drew 2-2, with Dieng heading off after 79 minutes.
It seems unlikely that Leeds will resurrect their move in January, especially after Dieng appeared to shun the Whites on deadline day.
With a first goal of the season in the bag though, Dieng will be looking to kick on and prove that he can be an asset for Marseille after all.
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