Leeds United are busy in the transfer window as The 49ers continue to work hard on bringing some much-needed cash to the club, but two players are generating surprise overseas interest.
Archie Gray is off to Tottenham for a £40m fee with Joe Rodon returning to Leeds in a separate £10m move. Elsewhere, Charlie Cresswell and Diego Llorente look set to join Toulouse and Betis for good.
It comes after exits were secured for Marc Roca, Sonny Perkins and Jack Harrison. Liam Cooper, Jamie Shackleton and Cody Drameh are technically now free agents after their contracts ended on Sunday.
Junior Firpo is expected to go with his Elland Road deal ending in 2025 while Rennes are interested in Finland star Glen Kamara. But two Leeds players are surprisingly generating interest from overseas.
Leeds will sell one of two strikers amid foreign club interest
Two players that might not have been considered as possible sales this summer are Patrick Bamford and Joel Piroe. Largely because Bamford is a long-serving Leeds player, with a contract until June 2026.
Piroe of course, only signed for Leeds last summer in a deal worth £16m from Swansea. The duo were key players for The Whites last season, but The Mail claims that one of the two could now be offloaded.
The report says that the duo are attracting interest from overseas clubs this summer. Where that interest originates is unclear, but it is perhaps a surprise that Leeds would entertain the sale of Piroe or Bamford.
Where might Bamford or Piroe end up this summer?
Bamford of course is one of the club’s highest earners even after relegation and pay cuts which are said to have stretched to half, or even 60%. He has failed to prove he is worthy of his wage in recent years.
Little glimpses, runs of form here and there, but nothing consistent in goals or remaining fit. Even in 2023-24, he missed the play-off final and the last few games while Piroe is likely to be on big wages.
Piroe cost a big fee and was the marquee signing of Farke’s first summer and that is likely to see him on a tidy pay packet. If there is interest, The 49ers may be open to offers to get their wages off the list.
