Leeds United’s late window recruitment plan went into overdrive approaching Deadline Day, but deals for Inter Milan prospects Facundo Colidio and Ryan Nolan fell through following discussions with the players, according to FC Inter News.
There had been rumours that Director of Football Victor Orta hoped to bring four players to Elland Road before the window slammed shut on Thursday, but concluded the club’s summer business with the acquisitions of Eddie Nketiah and Illan Meslier on loan from Arsenal and FC Lorient respectively.
The other two players who were seemingly set for life in West Yorkshire were Colidio, with Marcelo Bielsa said to be a big fan of the Argentina youth striker, and Inter U19s captain Nolan.
Unfortunately, both deals fell through, as FC Inter News understand United refused to meet the Nerazzurri’s asking price for Colidio, leading to Orta negating the Deadline Day transfer. Bielsa’s plans for Nolan put the promising centre-back off the idea of moving to West Yorkshire, on the other hand.
The San Siro natives were tipped to be chasing between €8m (£7.4m) and €10million (£9.2m) for Colidio when reports surfaced that we had tabled a long-term contract to the 19-year-old, but Inter are only thought to have requested €6million (£5.5m) on Deadline Day. However, that fee was still seen to be too high for Orta, and negotiations fazed out.
Nolan, meanwhile, was not put on the backburner due to the Nerazzurri’s asking price, but rather he rejected the move and a three-year contract, as Bielsa did not consider the defender to be ready for first-team football, and wanted to send him to Scotland on loan.
Kilmarnock are noted as the side he would likely have joined, but Nolan had no intentions of making the switch to the Scottish Premiership, and drew a line under our interest and called quits on negotiations.