Victor Orta hints Leeds United were ‘near’ to signing Che Adams

Follow us on Google Discover

Leeds United manager to pull off a real coup in January, landing striker Jean-Kevin Augustin on loan from RB Leipzig.

The French attacker was highly-rated at Paris Saint-Germain and then Leipzig, but his Monaco struggles in the first half of the season had hit his reputation.

Augustin was clearly unfit before the pandemic hit, and Leeds fans have only seen him play 48 minutes for the club.

Leeds moved for Augustin having missed out on other striking targets – and Victor Orta has now hinted at one of them.

The Spaniard was speaking to The Scouted Hub about Leeds’ transfer activity, and he suggested that a deal for one Premier League striker was close.

“I have a player that the second week of December is really available for us, near to closing (the deal), and the second week of January he’s not available because he gave a nice assist against Leicester,” said Orta.

So, who could this be? Well, one player heavily linked around that time was Che Adams. In the second week of January, as Orta stated, Adams picked up an assist in Southampton’s 2-1 away win at Leicester City.

It’s almost certain that Orta is referring to Adams, a player that was struggling to break into Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Saints side despite his £15m move from Birmingham City last summer.

The 23-year-old remained a bit-part player after that assist, so Leeds may be wise to keep him on their radar for the future – especially if they can’t get the best out of Augustin.