Leeds United are thought to be interested in signing Aston Villa’s James Chester this summer, according to a report by The Mirror (via The Daily Star).
Marcelo Bielsa is keen to replace Pontus Jansson after letting him leave Elland Road for Championship rivals Brentford and sees the Villans’ skipper as an ideal candidate.
It is claimed Chester could cost Leeds a transfer fee of around £7.5million.
Chester has plenty of experience of playing in the Championship and is clearly the type of leader (7500 To Holte left a glowing review of their skipper back in 2016) and defender that Leeds will need heading into the upcoming campaign following the departure of Jansson.
The 30-year-old has played 231 times in the second-tier of English football across spells with Aston Villa, Hull City and Plymouth Argyle (Transfermarkt) and has won promotion to the Premier League twice.
Injury saw him miss 19 games of the season between February and May (Transfermarkt), which may leave Leeds thinking twice about him as they had their own medical concerns at the back throughout the campaign.
As the Yorkshire Evening Post noted back in April, Bielsa had a number of his players out, including the likes of Jansson, Liam Cooper and Gaetano Berardi who missed a combined 35 matches.
Indeed, with Aston Villa having added a number of new centre-backs to their squad, it could still be difficult for Leeds to acquire him.
Villans boss Dean Smith has revealed he expects Chester to challenge for a place in the first-team ahead of their Premier League campaign.
“The four of them are great options for us to have. But we also know what a good player James is, and he has shown it in the Premier League,” he said. “Ideally, I would like to see him challenging for a place when we go to Tottenham on the first day of the season next month.”
Provided Chester can stay fit, he could be an excellent addition for Bielsa and Leeds this summer as they look to finally make their way back to the Premier League.
As mentioned, the 30-year-old has plenty of experience of playing in the Championship and has knowledge of what it takes to win promotion to England’s top-flight
Whether Bielsa and Leeds look to spend £7.5m on him after his recent injury problems remains to be seen, but it appears they could have a difficult challenge on their hands if Smith has anything to say about a potential transfer.
Leeds fans, do you think Chester would be a good addition ahead of the upcoming campaign? Let us know your thoughts by sharing them in the comments section below!
