Leeds were linked with a move for midfielder Ekdal two years ago.
It has been a tough season for Swedish midfielder Albin Ekdal. Niggling injuries limited him to just 19 league appearances with Hamburger SV, and now the German side have suffered relegation from the Bundesliga.
Currently training alongside Leeds United’s Pontus Jansson in Sweden’s World Cup squad, the 28-year-old midfielder now faces an intriguing summer in terms of his future with the second tier of German football well below his ambitions.
A ball-playing midfielder, Ekdal has turned out for the likes of Juventus, Cagliari and Bologna before his spell in Germany, and he will be desperate to impress at the World Cup to showcase his talents to any interested parties.
The Yorkshire Evening Post quoted Ekdal’s agent back in 2016 as saying that he would not consider a move to Elland Road while the club were still in the second division of English football.
But with a year left to run on his contract at Hamburg, who are now preparing to fight in Bundesliga 2, surely Leeds stand a better chance of signing the midfielder than ever before?
Leeds are expected to be busy in the transfer market this summer after a woeful 2017-18 campaign that saw them go from play-off contenders to a disappointing 13th-placed finish that saw a number of signings fail to hit the mark.
Central midfield lacked consistency throughout the campaign. Eunan O’Kane was way below par, while Mateusz Klich was shipped out on loan in January. Adam Forshaw suffered injuries, while Kalvin Phillips and Ronaldo Vieira were inconsistent.
With Ekdal’s future up in the air, surely Leeds should reignite their interest in the 32-time Sweden international and keep a watchful eye on his performances in Russia this summer in order to boost their promotion push next term.
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