Phil Hay has claimed that Leeds United’s director of football Victor Orta felt confident that Ezgjan Alioski would be staying at the club, but the player himself is ‘showing no sign’ of wanting to stick around.
The Macedonia international, who represented his country at Euro 2020, is out of contract at Leeds this summer.
United confirmed at the end of last season that they had offered him a new deal.
Alioski himself is linked with a move to Turkey and the longer this drags out, the less likely it is that Leeds will leave that extension on the table.
Here’s what Phil Hay of The Athletic told The Phil Hay show:
He said: “The offer is still on the table and I don’t think Leeds will increase it. I think they believe they’ve made him a fair offer which reflects his ability and valuation and where he’s at in his career.
“At the end of the season Leeds felt fairly confident he would sign. Orta came away [from talks with Alioski] very hopeful that he’d been turned a little bit and thought ‘you know what, I’d be better off staying’. At the moment he’s showing no sign of jumping on this offer.”
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The 29-year-old is clearly an important player for Marcelo Bielsa.
The Argentine played him in 36 of Leeds’ 38 Premier League games last season – and 29 of those were from the start.
He’s a valuable player but with the Whites reportedly interested in signing another left-back, that’ll impact negatively on his game time next season.
He’s a very popular figure among Leeds fans and the player himself might want to experience a packed-out Elland Road in the Premier League before leaving, with fans obviously having been absent for 18 months.
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