Leeds United will likely visit their pursuit of an attacking midfielder this January window. However, manager Daniel Farke might have to cross one name off his wishlist to fill that No. 10 position.
Paris FC attacking midfielder Ilan Kebbal emerged as a target for the Whites, although no official bid was made for the standout. The Yorkshire side had several players it was looking at to fill that No. 10 role for Farke, but in the end, no one came.
If Leeds want to earn promotion to the Premier League, it seems that finding a player who fits Farke’s tactics will be a top priority in the January window. The battle for the top two automatic promotions will be a tight race as the table is playing out so far.
Leeds summer target unlikely to come to Elland Road
L’Equipe reported on Sunday that Kebbal is also on the verge of signing a contract extension, which would keep him with the team beyond his current deal until June 2026. With Paris FC vying for promotion to Ligue 1, it’s unlikely that they will sell the player now that he’s committed to them long-term.
The 26-year-old playmaker has recorded 14 goals and 18 assists in 77 appearances for the French club. This news is a blow for Leeds as it follows the recent news that manager Pep Guardiola has told Manchester City not to offload James McAtee, who was on the Whites’ radar this summer.
“It is difficult to find players with a sense of goal in small spaces who attack the final third and McAtee has that quality,” Guardiola said. “That’s why I said to Txiki [Begiristain] I don’t want to loan him and I don’t want to sell him.
“I need his specific quality in small spaces. James has this ability. I have to see them and the first games I didn’t like it much and I told him afterwards: ‘Your impact in the game is not big, I want more.’
“After, he did well and his impact was really good. His period at Sheffield United helped him a lot to give value and suffer to get points, physicality, win duels, this kind of stuff. It helped him a lot playing there.”
