Leeds have joined West Brom in the race to sign midfielder Leonardo Da Silva Lopes from Hull City, a report from Football Insider has claimed.
Lopes only joined Hull from Wigan last summer, but despite an impressive debut season at the KCOM Stadium for the 21-year-old, a dismal second-half of the season saw the Tigers slip from play-off contenders to the Championship’s basement dwellers with just one win in their last 20 league games.
Even so, it seems that Lopes is attracting plenty of attention from further up the football pyramid, with Hull now facing a stint in League One for next season.
According to the latest reports, Leeds have taken an interest in signing the versatile midfielder ahead of their return to the Premier League, something that West Brom are already doing.
It is thought that Hull’s drop into the third-tier means it is likely Lopes will leave the club this summer, with both Leeds and the Baggies thought to be keen to offer the Portuguese Under-20 international the chance to play Premier League football.
Lopes signed a three-year contract when he joined Hull last summer, securing his future at the club until the end of the 2021/22 season, giving the club some room to negotiate any offers that come in for him.
This could be a signing worth considering for Leeds.
The step up to the Premier League next season will undoubtedly be a big one for Lopes to make, and it would be a surprise if he were to walk straight into Marcelo Bielsa’s side next season were he to make the move to Elland Road.
However, his performances this season suggest he would still be a reliable back up for the club next season, and if Lopes continues to improve at the rate he has recently, it would be a surprise if he is not capable of being a regular at Premier League level in the year’s to come.