Newcastle United have agreed that Karl Darlow can travel to Leeds for a medical, but Max Wöber is on the verge of joining Borussia Monchengladbach for a season-long loan.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has taken to twitter to tell us that Leeds and Newcastle have reached an agreement over Darlow. And the South Shields Gazette have quoted the Geordie’s head coach Eddie Howe confirming that "Karl will travel to Leeds tomorrow and have a medical and sign for them.”
32-year-old Darlow has been at Newcastle since the summer of 2014 and has played 86 games for them in that time, but spent the last four months of last season on loan. Clearly, we need another experienced keeper in the squad after the decision not to renew Joel Robles’ contract, but it’s not yet clear if Darlow will be first choice for Leeds when the season starts. Ilian Meslier is still at the club and is not one of the squad members with a release clause.
But Max Wöber is likely to be heading in the opposite direction after only six months at the club. While few Leeds fans will be shedding any tears over some of the players who have departed, Wöber was one of our better signings of recent times and could also help out at left back if need be. We imagined him doing a good job for us in the Championship when he initially indicated he was willing to stay.
So it was a bit of a surprise and a disappointment when he was left out of the Monaco friendly due to his ‘transfer situation’. Now Sky Sports Germany's Florian Plettenberg is reporting that his loan move to Borussia Monchengladbach is 'a done deal'. He claims that Leeds will receive a fee of around €500,000, and the deal is for one year loan but 'probably' won't contain an option to buy. Confirmation of the move is expected on Monday.
The departures of Wöber, Kock and Llorente have left the squad a little threadbare in central defence, but hopefully it will mean that Charlie Cresswell will get his opportunity after his impressive year on loan with Millwall in the division that we now find ourselves in. The website ‘Last Word on Sports’ reported on 17 July that Leeds have agreed personal terms with Liverpool’s Nat Phillips, and can now make a move to sign him, either permanently or as a one-year loan.
New signing Ethan Ampadu could also operate in central defence, but is more likely to play as a central midfield player after the departure of Roca and Aaronson. Tyler Adams remains at the club for now, if only because he is still recovering from surgery on his hamstring injury. He has attracted interest from West Ham and Aston Villa, but it’s possible he will return to our first team in September, and then he could he decide to stay if our season is going well?
Wilfried Gnonto is another of last season’s better players who might be staying at the club, not least because he hasn’t got a release clause in his contract. Presumably that is because at the time of his signing he was thought of as one for the future rather than as a first team player. Leeds have turned down a bid of £15m from Everton, and the Goodison mob are reportedly looking elsewhere as they are struggling to afford an increased offer.
These are the latest transfer stories, but there will be undoubtedly be a lot more before the season kicks off in just over a week’s time.