Leeds United missed out on £4m striker, now he’s on the verge of first Germany cap

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Leeds United missed out on Mergim Berisha and the striker is now on the verge of earning his first cap for Germany.

The need for a new striker at Elland Road seemed pretty obvious over the summer.

Leeds didn’t pounce for a new hitman though and ended up waiting to sign Georginio Rutter in January.

We’re yet to really see Rutter thrive in the Premier League, and the transition from Bundesliga to English football is taking a little while.

Leeds did look at strikers over the summer though and one name seemed to make some sense.

Leeds United missed out on Mergim Berisha

Yeni Şafak in Turkey suggested that Leeds had made an approach to buy Mergim Berisha and Fenerbahce were willing to sell.

Jesse Marsch worked with Berisha at Red Bull Salzburg and oversaw the striker smashing 22 goals in the 2020-21 season.

The reports suggested that Leeds offered just £1.7million, which was £2.5million shy of the asking price – and no deal was done.

Berisha instead ended up heading back to Germany with Augsburg, penning a season-long loan deal with the Bundesliga club.

The move has worked out pretty well; Berisha has bagged eight goals and four assists in 19 Bundesliga games this season, making a huge impact.

Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg now reports that Augsburg are planning to pay the €4.5million (£4million) purchase option in Berisha’s loan.

Augsburg are clearly happy with Berisha and that fee seems like a bargain.

Berisha on the cusp of Germany debut

The 24-year-old would qualify to play for Kosovo but he was a Germany Under-21 regular with 13 caps to his name.

Now shining for Augsburg, Berisha has earned his first senior call-up to the Germany squad as they face Peru and Belgium this week.

Germany are lacking a top striker and Berisha may now be given the chance to make his mark.

Given the price tag, Leeds may well have missed out on a bargain in Berisha and seeing him potentially earn a Germany cap just illustrates the talent Berisha has in his locker.