Sky Sports reporter David Reed has shared Leeds United’s next transfer priority after signing Max Wober from RB Salzburg, teasing a swoop for summer target Bamba Dieng.
The Lowdown: First one in
Wober has become the club’s first signing of 2023 and will provide Jesse Marsch with another option at centre-back and left-back.
The 24-year-old has made the majority of his appearances this season as a left-back, contributing to seven goals in 16 games. The Austrian has arrived at Elland Road in a deal worth around £10m and has signed a contract through to 2027.
The Latest: Reed’s comments
Talking on Sky Sports’ Good Morning Transfers show, relayed by MOT Leeds News, Reed cast doubt on the long-term future of Liam Cooper due to Wober’s arrival. He then said attack will be where the club will focus next, name-checking Dieng in the process.
“Interestingly, left-centre back, Liam Cooper the captain he’s the left-centre back there. What does that mean for his long-term future?”
“The obvious one when you talk about Leeds United, in terms of other areas they want to strengthen, as Southampton and a lot of clubs do, is a striker.
“Remember Bamba Dieng in the summer? It was on, it was off, it was on, it was off again. Don’t really know where he ended up? Well, he stayed at Marseille. Could they look to reignite that deal? Could they look somewhere else? But a striker is the main priority.”
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The Verdict: Unlikely?
Dieng had his chance to move to Elland Road in the summer but decided against travelling to England at the last minute in favour of a move to Nice, leaving Leeds scrambling to bring in teenager Wilfried Gnonto.
That transfer to Nice also failed to go through after the Senegal international, labelled a “super” player by French journalist Robin Bairner, failed a medical.
Therefore, you’d say that another attempt to sign the forward is unlikely after he let the Whites down last year, but never say never.