Leeds United
Premier League • England
Leeds fend off Premier League interest for Daniel Farke favourite who is now in ‘advanced talks’
Noni Madueke, Emile Smith Rowe, Max Aarons
Leeds United have managed to fend off Premier League interest and now look set to complete the signing of a Daniel Farke favourite.
Compared to Leicester and Southampton, Leeds have taken some time to get going in the transfer window, but the deals are now rolling through.
Their first pick-up of the summer was Chelsea’s Ethan Ampadu and they have since added Karl Darlow and Sam Byram to their ranks.
News recently broke that Leeds have agreed a deal with Tottenham to take defender Joe Rodon on loan for the season and they are now lining up their next addition.
According to Phil Hay of The Athletic, Leeds are in ‘advanced talks’ to sign Max Aarons from Norwich City on a permanent basis.
Leeds are hopeful of wrapping up the transfer before their next Championship match with Birmingham at the weekend.
They have had to fend off some Premier League interest to land this deal too as West Ham were also said to be interested.
When Norwich signed a right-back of their own this summer in Jack Stacey, that seemed to signal the end of Aarons’ time at Carrow Road.
The 23-year-old defender has been a superb player for Norwich over the years, but his development had begun to stall.
Aarons will relish working under Farke again
It’s no secret that Aarons enjoyed the best moments of his career while working with Farke and the duo will no doubt be excited to work together once again.
Farke had great success with using Aarons as an attacking full-back in the Championship and he will have a similar role in mind for him at Leeds.
In an interview with the Daily Mail last year, Aarons opened up about his relationship with Farke and how hard it was for the defender when the German coach left Norwich.
“It was really hard mentally around the time Daniel [Farke] left,” Aarons explained.
“We had been there two years ago and gone down and you do start getting visions of that season and it was really hard to cope with.
“And then Daniel left and that was just really sad. On that day, after the Brentford game, I spoke to him.
“He told me he loved working with me from day one. It was an emotional conversation as I am just so grateful to him.”
In a further bid to strengthen their backline, Leeds are also being heavily linked with a move for Liverpool defender Nat Phillips.
Considering Leeds had a shaky defensive record last season, they will be massively boosted by these additions.
Even in their opening Championship game against Cardiff, they showed some vulnerability at the back as the game finished 2-2.
Things are heading in the right direction though and Leeds will be hopeful of a return to the top flight at the first time of asking.