A Spanish top-flight club are bidding for a defender linked with Leeds United earlier this summer, according to Marca.
TyC Sports had claimed that Lucas Martinez Quarta could arrive at Leeds from River Plate, although the Whites have since signed Robin Koch in the Argentine’s position and it is unclear if they are pursuing further additions there.
And if they are, then Martinez Quarta may soon be off the agenda.
Marca reports that Celta had initially offered €5.5 million (around £5.1m) as a 50 per cent downpayment, but have increased in recent days.
The newspaper adds that should they accept, River would be paid a larger percentage of the 24-year-old’s transfer fee – almost all of it, in fact – up front.
It was suggested that Leeds would have to trigger Martinez Quarta’s €22m buyout clause (around £19.7m) in order to prise him from River.
But a cheaper sale is not unlikely, considering that the twice-capped Argentina international is now in the final year of his contract.
The Celta manager, Oscar Garcia, turned down Leeds to join Watford in 2014, after the Whites sacked David Hockaday, according to The Daily Mirror.
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