Leeds United: Whites keen on international; but deal dependent on player sales

According to Belgian news outlet Voetbal Primeur, Leeds United are close to sealing a deal for South Africa midfielder Andile Jali.

But there is but one issue that is reportedly holding the deal up.

Leeds are currently somewhat overloaded in terms of midfield personnel, and older reports than the emerging ones linking the club with Jali have suggested that Toumani Diagouraga and Luke Murphy are likely to depart.

The report on Voetbal Primeur's site claims that Leeds are looking to complete the signing of Jali, but they want to offload other players first.

The recent rise of Ronaldo Vieira, coupled with the signings of Matt Grimes and Liam Bridcutt have meant that Diagouraga and Murphy are now surplus to requirements. Don't forget, in addition to Vieira, Grimes, and Bridcutt, Leeds also have Alex Mowatt and Kalvin Phillips on the books at Elland Road.

Until Diagouraga and Murphy have been disposed of, a deal for Jali will most likely not occur. The 26 year-old South African would bring a tinge of pedigree to Elland Road, having been capped at senior international level on 15 occasions. Jali currently plays for Belgian Pro League club Oostende, having joined them two years ago for around £1 million. It is not yet known how much Jali will cost United should a deal occur, but transfermarkt report his market value as being £1.7 million, 700k more than what Oostende paid for him.

What to read next:

Leeds heading for the play-offs after shocker at QPR
Just when we thought we’d turned the corner with that win at Boro, we slipped back into the desperate form of the post-international break period, losing heavily to Queens Park Rangers in this critical game.

Queens Park Rangers 4 - 0 Leeds United - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.

QPR Awaydaze
Our trip to Queens Park Rangers is at 8pm on Friday, thanks once again to our very good friends at Sky Sports. We’re not famous any more!

Crisis, what Crisis?
As Mark Twain might have said, rumours of the death of our promotion hopes have been greatly exaggerated. Last night’s win at Middlesbrough was a hard watch towards the end, but the vital three points has got our campaign back on track.

Middlesbrough 3 - 4 Leeds United - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.

Middlesbrough Awaydaze
Our visit to Middlesbrough kicks off at 8pm tomorrow night, once again thanks to our very good friends at Sky TV. We’re not famous any more!

Leeds promotion hopes damaged by first home defeat of the season
Once again the chance to go back to the top of the table was handed to us on a plate, but we dropped the plate. This week’s frustration-fest was at the hands of Blackburn Rovers.

Leeds United 0 - 1 Blackburn Rovers - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.

Annual accounts show that the club will have to sell players if we don't go up
The club released the annual accounts for the 2022/3 season this week, and despite the headline figure of an overall loss of £33.7 million, we’re not in danger of any points deduction for now. But the accumulated losses mean that player sales will be inevitable in the summer if we remain in the Championship.

Stuart Dallas thanks the fans as tributes pour in
Stuart Dallas battled hard for two years to return to the game after his serious injury, but has now had to accept that he can no longer get back to the level of fitness needed to play the game at the top level. Club Chairman Paraag Marathe led the tributes, and the player has sent an emotional open letter to all the Leeds United fans.