Reported Leeds and Tottenham target could be sold on the cheap, transfer expert claims

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Leeds United will reportedly rival Jose Mourinho’s Spurs for Bundesliga defender Robin Koch if Marcelo Bielsa can lead them to the Premier League.

Freiburg may be forced to accept a reduced fee for Leeds United and Tottenham target Robin Koch due to the ongoing global health crisis, an experienced German agent Jorg Neblung has told Transfermarkt.

And Neblung’s comments certainly seem to match what has been reported in the European press in recent times.

According to O Jogo, Freiburg may be willing to listen to offers of just £11 million for Koch as he enters the final year of his contract, even though this plucky Bundesliga outfit were initially demanding a fee closer to £18 million.

Koch is an established Germany international these days, forcing his way into Joachim Low’s plans last year, and he told BILD recently that he is keen to take the ‘next step’ after three seasons at Freiburg.

Tottenham are interested (ArenaNapoli) while Leeds’ director of football Victor Orta mentioned Koch as a potential target in conversation with the Yorkshire Evening Post.

And Neblung, an influential agent in German football who has worked in the transfer market for over two decades, believes that the financial problems that will arise thanks to the indefinite postponement of professional football could force Freiburg to accept a reduced fee for their star players.

“The classic selling clubs will be affected. Clubs that buy and train players cheaply to generate sales with sales – Freiburg for example,” he says.

“The transfer fees for (Germany U21 striker) Luka Waldschmidt, Robin Koch and co will no longer be as high as a few weeks ago.”

As Orta himself suggested, Leeds’ hopes of bringing Koch to Elland Road will live and die on whether they can secure a long-awaited return to the Premier League, and all the riches that entails.

A commanding and technically gifted centre-half who looks pretty much tailor-made for Marcelo Bielsa’s asphyxiation-by-possession approach, Koch could fill a Ben White-shaped void in Leeds’ backline.