Leeds United look to have been priced out of the domestic market.
Leeds United fans’ hopes that their side could improve its forward line in January were hit this week by news that Chris Martin – a player Derby County are actively trying to offload and who is interesting teams at the bottom end of the Championship table – is out of the Whites’ price range.
In which case, moves for other linked strikers, Lewis Grabban of Bournemouth, Jordan Hugill of Preston and even Jack Marriott – who plays for League One Peterborough United – are no-goes too, it seems.
There could, however, be a better way for Leeds to find their desired goalscorer, and it’s one they should know well.
Thomas Christiansen’s side have used their vast network of contacts to recruit players from Holland, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Belgium and even Japan since the summer. And those markets could again offer up the best value.
According to recent reports, Jaime Mata, a striker who’s scored 19 goals from 22 games in Spain’s second tier – the same division from which Leeds acquired this season’s star man Samuel Saiz – is set to attract starting bids of as little as €1 million (£883,000) this month.
Pucel Fichajes claimed last week that three of the Whites’ league rivals, Fulham, Norwich and Sheffield Wednesday, as well as Premier League Bournemouth, have been to watch Mata in action for Real Valladolid – where he is out of contract in the summer, hence the low ‘offers’.
At 29, Mata is perhaps not a long-term option for Leeds, and recent interest could well drive up his eventual transfer fee. But they’re unlikely to find many on better runs of form than he is, and at a fraction of the prices being quoted on this side of the English channel – bearing in mind that Saiz only cost around £3 million and he had longer to run on his deal.
Should Leeds enter the race to sign Jaime Mata this month?
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