Sports
Leeds in talks to seal a “perfect winter signing”
Leeds United fans will be hoping their beloved team can make it five Premier League games on the spin without a defeat when they travel to Sunderland after Christmas Day.
This will definitely be easier said than done, with the formidable Black Cats yet to lose on their own patch this season in league action. Still, Daniel Farke‘s men haven’t looked out of their depth at some tricky away grounds in recent times, having only come up short 3-2 at Manchester City.
Moreover, Dominic Calvert-Lewin ensured Farke’s visitors would come away with a point on the road at an equally tough Brentford, when he headed home late on from an inviting Wilfried Gnonto delivery.
The German will be over the moon with how instant an impact the ex-Everton attacker has made on proceedings, but he looks to still be targeting attacking reinforcements in January…
Leeds in talks for winger signing
While Farke will now feel secure in who he selects as his main marksman, he will feel less at ease about his options down either wing, with Daniel James back in the Elland Road treatment room.
Recent results have even seen the ex-Norwich City manager only utilise wing-backs for attacking impetus down either channel, but that could soon change, if Leeds win the services of Ruben Vargas when the transfer window reopens.
The Switzerland international, who pulls on the club colours of Sevilla, has reportedly been offered to a whole host of top-flight clubs for around the £9m mark, as per TEAMtalk. It states that intermediaries have been in talks with sides including Leeds, AFC Bournemouth and the Whites’ next opponents in Sunderland.
The low fee will surely make this an attractive deal for Leeds to pursue, but with the change to a 3-5-2 formation, it might not be deemed top of the priority list to get done.
Still, his sparkling form for both club and country – which even saw him score and assist for the Swiss at the last Euros – means he should be able to come into Farke’s set-up, if wingers are back on his agenda, and be an instant success, like Manor Solomon was when he arrived last summer.
How Vargas can be Leeds’ next Solomon
Solomon would have been judged as a slightly unnecessary pick-up when he arrived at Elland Road on loan before last season’s Championship campaign got underway, having been very injury-prone for Spurs.
Thankfully, those injuries didn’t trouble his time in West Yorkshire, though. He scored ten goals and posted 13 assists from 41 appearances in total, resulting in Solomon being one of the first names on the team sheet. Sky Sports’ Jamie Redknapp’s assessment of the 26-year-old as a “pocket rocket” certainly rang true for Farke’s men, as evidenced in his never-say-die attitude to score this strike to hand Leeds the Championship title.
Vargas will hope he can be as instantly impactful, but as Leeds confidently beat the drop, with the slick 27-year-old once noted as being the “perfect winter signing” by his former Sevilla boss Xavi García Pimienta when arriving mid-way through the 2024/25 season. That much could be true for Leeds this term.
The number 11 collected two goals and one assist from just 11 appearances last season, playing primarily down Solomon’s trusty left flank. Vargas has also lit up La Liga this campaign, collecting a standout three goals and four assists from only 871 minutes of action.
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Vargas’ career numbers by club |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Club |
Games |
Goals + Assists |
|
Augsburg |
161 |
23 + 19 |
|
FC Luzern |
58 |
12 + 13 |
|
Sevilla |
24 |
5 + 5 |
|
Sourced by Transfermarkt |
||
Vargas should also be cut out for the pressures of being one of Leeds’ main men in attack – like Solomon – when considering his vast experience of some of Europe’s toughest leagues, with a weighty 42 goal contributions accumulated across 161 Augsburg outings in the Bundesliga.
For only £9m, too, Leeds would be fools to try and not secure a deal for the 27-year-old, who was also labelled as a “blessing” by Pimienta for what he offered in such a short space of time in Seville.
Solomon also hit the ground running in some style in Yorkshire, with an outrageous ten goal contributions tallied up from his first 12 Leeds starts, as a new Solomon-style talent is potentially ready to be unearthed, if Vargas swaps Spain for England shortly.
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