Leeds face battle with Championship pair for Belgian midfielder whose future is in the air

Leeds United are one of three English sides reportedly ‘chasing’ OH-Leuven midfielder Mandela Keita ahead of a potential summer move.

Leeds’ midfield has seen quite the restructure in the past year. Indeed, American pair Brenden Aaronson and Tyler Adams joined in the summer, along with Marc Roca, from Bayern Munich.

That trio are among the six most used players by the Whites this season. They’ve played a lot of football together, too, and of the midfield options at the club, they’ve been utilised most.

Leeds are certainly getting good use out of those signings, along with another they made subsequently.

On top of that trio, Weston McKennie joined the club in January. He was brought in by former boss Jesse Marsch, before he was sacked just a month later.

It now seems they’re unlikely to snare him permanently. That they need to pay compensation to former loan player Jean-Kevin Augustin offers a good reason as to why they’ll not splash £30million on doing so.

It seems the Whites are in the market for a player to replace the Juventus loanee.

Indeed, he’s played every game he’s been available for since joining the club, and despite not being massively impactful, they’ll feel his loss once he leaves.

Leeds in the mix for Mandela Keita

A player that’s come to Leeds’ attention is Keita. Het Nieuwsblad reports the Whites are ‘closely following’ him.

The Belgium Under-21 international is currently on loan at Royal Antwerp from fellow Belgian Pro League side OH-Leuven.

He made that move for the second half of the season, and has been enjoyed a successful period with Antwerp. Indeed, he’s played nine games and they’ve won all but three of those, losing just one.

His loan side have the option of keeping him permanently for €10million (approx £8.85million). However, the report suggests an agreement has not yet been found.

As such, that could open up to a move. Alongside Leeds, there is also reported interest from Blackburn Rovers and Norwich City. All three of those sides are said to have ‘enquired’ about the midfielder.

Leeds move makes sense

For Leeds, a move for Keita seems to make sense. While he’s played just 49 career games, that a few sides are chasing him shows he’s a solid option.

However, it can’t be clear from that small sample size in the Belgian league if he’d be a good Premier League asset. If Leeds are no longer in the Premier League – they’re two points from safety – that would be irrelevant.

They may lose a number of players if they do go down. It’s unclear if the likes of Aaronson, Adams and Roca would remain to play in the second tier.

Replacing them will be important, but the Whites might not have a lot of money to do so. The report states the side who eventually lands Keita will need to ‘show desire’ to pay ‘well over’ his £8.85million price tag.

It’s also said Antwerp could ‘exercise the purchase option and cash in straight away’. Given they might be flipping him for a quick sale, they’d surely not demand too much more than what they paid for him.

As such, Leeds could be in with a good chance of landing Keita this summer.

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