Leeds United have stepped up their summer recruitment after completing the £34m signing of Tarik Muharemovic from Sassuolo last week.
The 23-year-old Bosnia international became the second-most expensive player in the club’s history when he sealed his move to Elland Road on Friday, underlining the 49ers’ willingness to back Daniel Farke in the transfer market.
Muharemovic is expected to fill the void left by Pascal Struijk’s move to Brighton, giving Farke the commanding centre-back he had been searching for ahead of the new Premier League season.
The Leeds boss is also keen to bring in midfield upgrades. However, the club’s pursuit of a top target is set to get more complicated in the coming days.
Read More: Midfielder prioritises move to Leeds United despite other Premier League interest
Fulham ready to bid to hijack Leeds United’s pursuit of midfielder
Leeds have already signed Harry Wilson and Tarik Muharemovic, and are considered the favourites to land Julian Brandt on a free transfer.
However, their pursuit of Southampton midfielder Shea Charles has not gone according to plan in the ongoing summer transfer window.
Leeds thought they were close to a breakthrough in negotiations a couple of times in the last few weeks. However, Southampton have rejected three bids from the Whites.
The Yorkshire giants are yet to match Southampton’s £25m asking price for Charles, plus add-ons, this summer.
And according to the Daily Mail, Fulham are now ready to enter the race for Charles with an opening offer.
The west London club are ready to table a bid worth £24m, which is close to Southampton’s asking price for Charles in the ongoing window.
New Fulham boss Alvaro Arbeloa has endorsed the move and is prepared to make Charles an important member of the squad at Craven Cottage.
Leeds have continued to hold talks with Southampton in hopes of a breakthrough, but are likely to encounter a bidding war for the midfielder.
Shea Charles will have to provide the final push
The midfielder missed Southampton’s pre-season game over the weekend and has been given an extended time off due to his involvement for Northern Ireland at the end of last season.
However, Southampton expect to sell him, and they are keen to spark a bidding war for his services.
Leeds are desperate to avoid such a scenario and are banking on Shea Charles to push for a move to Elland Road over other options this summer.
The midfielder has prioritised a move to Leeds over other clubs. However, Leeds need him to inform Southampton that he only wants to join the Whites.
They are welcome too him if it ends this ridiculous saga. I think he is a decent player but we need a creative midfielder into our midfield three. He isn’t it.
24 million for a player with just 12 months left on his contract would be silly. Hackney went for less than 20 and for me he is a better player. Leeds are right to walk away.
leeds are a big club, but i wish the owners would get charles,diomande,balogun,dju,trafford or suzuki.
If Leeds really wanted Charles, they would have stumped up the extra £2 million weeks ago. They are holding on for someone else. Look how quickly the signing of Tarik Muharemovic took from announcement to reality. Most of the garbage news leaks about Charles are not coming from Leeds, and I doubt Fulham would have leaked their intentions in advance, it does them no favours. It is most likely all emanating from the same place – Southampton FC, most likely to get a bidding war going or to force Leeds hand.