£30m Fabrizio Romano transfer update offers Leeds United fresh Emi Buendia hope
£30m Fabrizio Romano transfer update offers Leeds United fresh Emi Buendia hope
Leeds United retain interest in the Aston Villa star with just one week of the January transfer
window remaining.
Leeds United will have a keen eye on Bayer Leverkusen’s transfer activity this month amid
reports of the German club’s interest in two summer Elland Road targets.
Aston Villa’s Emi Buendia and James McAtee of Manchester City were both on the radar of Leeds
recruitment chiefs ahead of the 2024/25 campaign,
with a creative No.10 needed following Georginio Rutter’s £40million move to Brighton.
Angus Kinnear confirmed interest in both alongside several other top-flight attacking midfielders but
none came in, with Brenden Aaronson the only natural option at present.
While a mid-season move for McAtee looks virtually impossible given his £30m price-tag,
interest in Buendia remains at Leeds. There is an understanding it would be difficult to pull off,
given the Argentinian made clear over summer he didn’t want to drop into the Championship,
but a move away from Aston Villa looks likely and the longer this window goes on,
the more likely such a coup becomes possible.
Leeds believe Buendia is destined for a top-flight European move and
reports over the weekend of interest from Bayer Leverkusen suggested as much.
Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg claimed the Bundesliga champions held ‘new talks’ with
Aston Villa on Saturday, although no agreement had been reached.
Leverkusen are expected to sign an attacking midfielder to replace the injured Martin Terrier but on Monday morning, Fabrizio Romano reported that their first choice option was McAtee, rather than Buendia.
The reliable transfer journalist claimed a loan offer with an option to buy had been sent to Manchester City,
who are yet to respond.
Plettenberg then reported a similar story just a few minutes later,
suggesting the door to sign McAtee had ‘reopened’.
He also backed up Romano’s report of an official offer being submitted by Leverkusen.
Encouragingly for Leeds, he named Buendia as a ‘top alternative’,
suggesting Xabi Alonso’s side will not move for the Villa man if they get their first-choice target.
He added: “Leverkusen have always been interested in James McAtee.
However, there hasn’t been an open door for a transfer – until now.
With Omar Marmoush’s signing, the opportunity for Leverkusen to sign McAtee has arisen.”
Should Leverkusen succeed in their pursuit of McAtee,
then Buendia will be left still looking for a place to play out the rest of this season.
As of yet, there have been no other concrete links anywhere else across Europe,
while speculation over a move to Argentinian outfit River Plate has died down.
Buendia enjoyed a rare start during Villa’s Champions League defeat at AS Monaco last week and
also came off the bench on Sunday as his side drew 1-1 against West Ham.
The Athletic have since revealed the agreement of a contract extension at Villa Park but
a move is still expected before next Monday’s deadline,
with manager Unai Emery admitting regular football is needed.
“He didn’t 100 per cent in the season until now,” Villa boss Unai Emery recently said on Buendia.
“But now he is playing more minutes and helping the team. But maybe he can have the possibility to leave.
For him, it could be something where he can play more, get more minutes,
get confidence again and be comfortable playing again in the starting XI. Of course,
now he is helping us and I am happy with his attitude.”
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