Good Morning. It's Friday 26th July, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road
Steinsson flies off to Cologne to tie up dealLeeds Utd have had a €4m (£3.37m) offer for Austrian International midfielder Dejan Ljubicic turned down.
He applies his trade in the second tier of German football with Koln, whom he joined in 2021 from Austrian outfit Wien. He's netted 8 times in 83 appearances for the Cologne based club. He loves to get forward, and at 6ft 2' shares the physical attributes the Elland Road faithful will love. He can also play on the right or as a defensive midfielder!
Leeds are set to test Koln's resolve with an improved offer and have sent Technical Director Gretar Steinsson off to Cologne to get the deal over the line - such is the importance of his signature to Daniel Farke.
The 26yo only has twelve months left on his contract, so we must assume any deal mustn't be too far away! In 2021, Ljubicic was sentenced for throwing bottles at a mosque, a crime he committed in 2018. He had to pay a fine of 1,000 BAM (£430) or serve ten days in prison!
Send Crew out on loanWith the Summer arrival of Joe Rothwell, and expected signing of Dejan Ljubicic, the likelihood of Charlie Crew getting a decent run-out next season is starting to diminish!
Crew, 18 last month, joined the Leeds U18's academy from home town club (Cardiff City) in the Summer of 2022. By the following January (2023), he had already been promoted to the U21's. Last March (2024) after continuing to impress, the young Welshman made the first team bench for the very first time!
He was rewarded with a new improved long term deal just two weeks ago, running until the Summer of 2028, so obviously the club know they have a special talent. Whilst the club have done well to get him to this point, he will not continue to develop unless he is playing every week. There is absolutely no point him coming on for the last five minutes of games!!!
Leeds tend to only send their youngsters out on loan to see out the remainder of their contracts, or as an afterthought, usually resulting on them being let go upon their return. In truth, I cannot remember a time when a loan move had a positive influence on a Leeds players development, where they have then kicked on to the next level.
