Sensational twist as midfield star says ‘yes’ to joining Leeds United with contract already ‘signed’

Nadiem Amiri has agreed to join Leeds United from Bayer Leverkusen despite earlier reports claiming he would actually turn them down.

Leeds have made Amiri their next target, but it was claimed earlier that he would reject them and hold out for a move to Marseille instead. In an unexpected development, though, Kicker now reports that the attacking midfielder has ‘said yes’ to Leeds after all.

The report claims he has ‘agreed’ to join Leeds and has in fact ‘signed’ a four-year contract with the Championship club already. His transfer is therefore deemed to be ‘imminent’.

Leeds have met an asking price somewhere in between €5m (£4.3m) and €6m (£5.1m) for Amiri, which Marseille were unwilling to match.

At the age of 26, Amiri will be arriving in English football for the first time in his career. His only other venture outside Germany before was to join Genoa on loan for six months in 2022.

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Prior to his spell with Bayer Leverkusen, he came through the ranks at Hoffenheim. During his time in the Bundesliga, Leeds boss Daniel Farke will have become aware of him.

Now, they are set to link up at Elland Road, unless there is yet another twist in the saga. Whatever happens, Amiri should be changing clubs this summer, because he is into the final year of his contract with Bayer Leverkusen.

It now seems that his destination could be Leeds after all, in which case it would turn out to be a positive day for them on the transfer front.

They are also closing in on the capture of Joel Piroe from Swansea City, who will strengthen their attack after a fee was agreed between the two clubs.

Gnonto and Sinisterra to stay at Leeds?

And at a press conference on Thursday, Farke has confirmed Luis Sinisterra and Willy Gnonto are back in contention to play for Leeds again, despite them both being linked with departures this summer.

“We have Luis Sinisterra back in the squad and Willy back, so it is an improved situation on last week. You can’t compare the situations between Luis and Willy,” Farke said in view of a trip to Ipswich Town on Saturday.

“With Luis there was a legal issue, a contractual issue and uncertainty and clarity about his contract. It was a situation that has obviously also distracted him. I showed some leadership and said Luis we need your quality but this makes no sense you being here because I need you to be 100 per cent focussed on training and the game.

“That was why we didn’t involve him, but since the start of the week the situation is sorted and we have clarity about his contract situation. I had a good chat with him and he’s in a much better place and is ready to go and work 100 per cent for this club, so we took him back into the dressing room and training. It’s good we have a player of his quality back.

“With Willy it was different. There were no clauses in his contract and we made the point we won’t let him go and because of that he made it clear he didn’t feel right to play, and more or less refused to play. So I had to take some leadership and say you don’t train with the group and we can’t let this situation affect the group.

“At the beginning of the week he came to see me in order to explain his situation and he apologised that he made a mistake. He spoke to the whole club and has lots of support from them and we are 100 per cent on the same page.

“I liked Willy’s explanation and the fact he apologised, so he said he is 100 per cent ready if I choose to play him. He’s 100 per cent ready to fight, so I gave him a second chance and he is trying to impress and earn his spot in the squad.”