Leeds United are interested in a deal to bring Junior Adamu to Elland Road in the summer transfer window.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to a report by The Express, who claim that, following recent reports revealing that Victor Orta has now given up on his pursuit of Club Brugge KV centre-forward Charles De Ketelaere, the Spanish director of football is now assessing alternatives in the transfer market – with one target said to be the Red Bull Salzburg striker.
The report goes on to state that, despite the Austrian side’s sporting director, Christoph Freund, revealing that he has held no concrete talks with any interested party regarding the £12m sale of the 21-year-old this summer, the Whites are thought to be one club keeping a very close eye on the Nigeria-born Austria U21 international ahead of a potential swoop.
“Hidden gem”
While missing out on a deal for De Ketelaere will undoubtedly be a gutting outcome for Orta and the Elland Road faithful, should the director of football manage to get a deal for Adamu over the line in the Belgian’s place this summer, it would certainly help to ease the blow.
Indeed, over his 30 Austrian Bundesliga appearances in 2021/22 – only 20 of which came as starts – the £5.4m-rated forward was in exceptional form for Matthias Jaissle’s side, scoring seven goals, registering five assists and creating 12 big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.9 shots, making 0.9 key passes and completing 0.6 dribbles per game.
However, it was undoubtedly Salzburg’s 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich in last season’s Champions League round of 16 first-leg tie in which the 21-year-old most caught the eye, with Adamu coming off the bench to score one goal, hit the target with two shots, make two key passes, win two tackles, attempt three dribbles and win six fouls over his 78 minutes on the pitch.
These metrics saw the player who Jacek Kulig dubbed a “hidden gem” and Cherno Samba labelled a “special” talent earn an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.1 – ranking him as Salzburg’s fifth-best player against the six-time European Cup winners.
As such, considering the sheer amount of potential it is evident that Adamu possesses, it would appear an extremely wise move for Orta to submit an offer for the Austrian starlet in the coming weeks, as, for a fee of just £12m, the youngster could well prove to be one of the bargains of the summer window.
AND in other news: Phil Hay reveals Leeds “ready to push through” 7th signing, supporters will be buzzing
