Phil Hay: Leeds “moving forward” in talks for “awesome” 6 ft 2 ace

Reliable journalist Phil Hay has reported that Leeds United are making progress in talks to sign Newcastle United goalkeeper Karl Darlow, who could leave the Premier League club this summer.

Darlow has been at Newcastle since 2014, but he has not been a regular starter and has had two loan spells, the latest at Hull City last season where he played 12 games in the Championship.

He still has two years left on his contract with Eddie Howe’s team, but he is behind other keepers like Nick Pope, Martin Dubravka and Loris Karius, so he needs to move elsewhere to get more game time, and Leeds could be his next destination.

Football League World previously said that Leeds liked the 32-year-old but he was not their main target for the goalkeeper position, but it seems that they have changed their mind.

Sky Sports earlier this month said that Leeds and Bournemouth had both talked to Newcastle about Darlow, but with Bournemouth close to signing Andrei Radu from Inter Milan, Leeds have moved ahead in the race for Darlow.

Hay tweeted that Leeds are now close to signing Darlow, but he did not say if it would be a loan or a permanent deal. He wrote:

“Karl Darlow to Leeds United now on the cards. Talks moving forward. GK the focus for Leeds after Ampadu signing last week.”

Sky Sports reporter Keith Downie has also said that Darlow is expected to come back to the UK to have a medical before his move to Leeds.

Leeds know that Darlow is 32 years old so he is not a long-term option for them, but he still has a lot of quality and has been praised as an “awesome” player by football reporter Matt Murray.

Darlow kept five clean sheets in 12 Championship games for Hull and made 34 saves from 48 shots on target against him, which is a success rate of 75%, according to FBRef, which is much better than Joel Robles (66.7%) and Illan Meslier (59.5%) did last season.

Darlow is also very good at passing the ball, as he completed 99.5% of his short passes and 97.2% of his medium passes while on loan last season, so he can find his teammates well.

If Meslier stays at Leeds after the summer, Darlow will probably be his backup, but no matter what role the manager gives him, he would be a great addition to the squad.

Club want Leeds star as finances line up for cheap deal – report

Westdeutsche Zeitung claims that Borussia Monchengladbach are interested in signing Leeds United defender Max Wober, who could leave the club soon. The Bundesliga club are looking for a replacement for Nico Elvedi, who is joining Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Wober has an exit clause in his contract after Leeds were relegated.

The German news outlet says that Monchengladbach could get Wober on loan, as Leeds manager Daniel Farke revealed on 22 July that Wober was not involved in their friendly against Monaco because of a transfer situation.

Wober’s absence from the Monaco game suggested that he was close to leaving Leeds, with Monchengladbach being the most likely destination, as Sky Sports reported earlier.

This would be another loan departure from Leeds due to the relegation clauses that were put in the contracts of many big-name players by the former owners Andrea Radrizzani and Victor Orta, which have hurt the club this summer.

The club are not in a bad financial position, but losing so many players without getting much money for them will affect their financial fair play record, as they will have to spend money on new players.

The huge exodus from Leeds is not all bad, as Southampton are having trouble selling players after being relegated, but it is still not good for Leeds.

Wober was one of the players that Leeds wanted to keep this summer as they aim to return to the Premier League, but it seems likely that he will join other stars like Robin Koch and Brenden Aaronson in the Bundesliga.