As those at Elland Road look to get their January business underway late on in the transfer window, Leeds United are reportedly eyeing a move to sign a Premier League and Champions League winning midfielder who once cost £40m for Daniel Farke.
Leeds transfer news
Still top of the Championship despite their bore draw against Burnley, Leeds have their sights set on a return to the Premier League at the second time of asking under Farke and the January transfer window could yet help accelerate that ambition. With just under a week until the window slams shut, the Whites have been linked to moves for the likes of Danilo Barbosa and Louie Barry.
The latter would be a particularly impressive addition given how he stole the show in the first-half of the season on loan at Stockport before he was recalled by parent club Aston Villa. Now potentially on the move again, it could be Leeds who benefit this time around.
Of course, any arrivals must also have the potential to step into the Premier League should the Yorkshire club earn promotion as is currently expected. And there may be no better way to ensure that than by signing a player who’s been there and done it at the very top of England’s top flight.
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According to The Sun, Leeds are now eyeing a battle to sign Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from Besiktas alongside the likes of Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers this month.
The former Liverpool and Arsenal midfielder, who swapped North London for Anfield in a £40m deal in 2017, has fallen down the pecking order in Turkey and even though the arrival of new manager Ole Gunner Solskjaer could wipe the slate clean, he’s reportedly keen on a return to the Premier League.
Whilst Leeds will have to fend off plenty of competition to get a deal done this month, Oxlade-Chamberlain’s arrival would undoubtedly push them ever closer to promotion back to the big stage this season.
"Outstanding" Oxlade-Chamberlain would be impressive coup
A Premier League and Champions League winner at Liverpool, Oxlade-Chamberlain would undoubtedly be an impressive signing at Elland Road. For a side in the Championship to attract a player who has done it all in English football would represent the lure that Leeds still have in abundance. At 31 years old, the midfielder still has one final run left in the tank too.
After making just six Super Lig appearances all season, meanwhile, Oxlade-Chamberlain needs a return to English football almost just as much as the likes of Leeds could do with a player of his calibre.
The former Liverpool man earned plenty of praise during his Anfield days, including from Jurgen Klopp, who told reporters in 2020: “Ox is an outstanding player, an outstanding player, was always and will always be.
“In training, what Ox did so far you can see his quality immediately. Immediately. He is a difference-maker, you can see that. Did he always play perfectly well? No. But he had a few really good games that helped us a lot.
“The longer he can stay without injury the better he will be. This time we are really confident we can do that until the end of his career.”
On the injury front, a positive sign for Leeds will be that Oxlade-Chamberlain has missed just one game in the current campaign and recovered well from a frustrating thigh injury last season – making his signature all the more tempting to chase.