Leeds are competing with Fulham for the signing of Benfica midfielder Florentino Luiz, a report from TuttoMercatoWeb has claimed.
Reports on Wednesday had revealed that Fulham are plotting a third bid for the 21-year-old after seeing their first two rejected, and it now seems they are not alone in their pursuit of the midfielder.
According to this latest update, Leeds are also interested in a move for Luiz, who has featured 31 times in all competitions for Benfica’s first-team, since making his debut for the Portuguese giants’ senior side last year.
However, it is thought that Fulham hold the advantage in the race to secure Luiz’ services, although it remains to be seen exactly why that is.
Seria A giants AC Milan are also credited with an interest in Luiz, but the player himself is said to prefer a move to the Premier League this summer.
There are currently four-years remaining on Luiz’ current contract with Benfica, with a €120million release clause included in that deal.
While it may be somewhat frustrating to lose out in a transfer race such as this to a rival such as Fulham, this is probably not the worst thing that could have happened to Leeds in the current transfer window.
Admittedly, there can be no doubting that Luiz has plenty of potential, but it seems that this would be an incredibly expensive deal for a player who has very little experience at the highest level of the game, making something of a risk for the Whites.
With that in mind, it makes sense to press on with recruiting some of the club’s more established and experienced targets, who ought to be more than reliable in the Premier League for the Whites, and will not cost quite so much.