Leeds United have fallen behind in the race to sign Liverpool forward Takumi Minamino, according to a report from The Times

The lowdown: Leeds interested in Minamino

The Whites have been heavily linked with a move for Minamino for some time now, and recently the interest surfaced once again as a report from This Is Anfield claimed that Liverpool were willing to listen to offers of around £17m for the Japan international.

Having successfully worked under the stewardship of Jesse Marsch at Red Bull Salzburg previously, the 27-year-old attacker was viewed as a genuine candidate to arrive at Elland Road to strengthen the ranks.

However, the Yorkshire club appear to have slipped down the list of potential destinations for Minamino as one competitor receives a timely cash injection...

The latest: Monaco lead Minamino race

As per The Times, AS Monaco have swept to the front of the race to sign the 41-cap ace ahead of Leeds, Wolves, Fulham and Southampton.

It's claimed that Monaco are now 'leading the chase' to sign the man who directly contributed to 20 goals in just 22 outings under Marsch in Austria.

The Ligue 1 outfit are set to receive a massive fee in the region of €100m (£85m) for the sale of Aurelien Tchouameni from Real Madrid and would therefore have no problem reaching the asking price for Minamino, who was hailed by James Pearce for a 'clinical' finish against Norwich City last season.

[web_stories_embed url="https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-updates-4/" title="Latest Leeds United updates!" poster="https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/cropped-2022-03-10T184055Z_1834933207_UP1EI3A1FW561_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-ENGLAND-LEE-AVA-REPORT-1-scaled-1.jpg" width="360" height="600" align="none"]

The verdict: Don't delay

With Monaco seemingly ready to act, Leeds cannot afford to wait for Raphinha to decide on his future before moving for a top target.

Despite being somewhat of an onlooker in the Premier League during 2021/22, Minamino scored 10 times and provided one assist in 24 appearances across all competitions, highlighting that aforementioned clinical nature whenever he is handed an opportunity.

Although there is no lure of European football on the table in Yorkshire, the prospect of reuniting with Marsch should excite the versatile Japanese star, and as such, Victor Orta and Andrea Radrizzani must be going all-out to try and make this deal happen.

In other news: Leeds now won’t sign ‘superb’ midfielder despite Phil Hay revealing talks