The World Cup has been underwhelming from a Leeds United point of view. Only Gabriel Gudmundsson has played more than an hour in a game despite four players representing the Whites.
Ao Tanaka, Noah Okafor and Brenden Aaronson remained unused substitutes in the opening games of their respective nations in the World Cup this summer.
Gudmundsson is the only Leeds player to get any meaningful minutes in the summer tournament. However, other players are on Leeds’ radar who have already impressed in the tournament.
And one player that Leeds wanted to sign in the January transfer window scored an outstanding goal against England in Croatia’s 4-2 defeat on Wednesday night.
Martin Baturina scores a glorious goal against England
Leeds had set their sights on Martin Baturina in the winter window and tried to sign him from the Italian side Como in January.
He was not a regular in the Como team, and Leeds thought they could convince the Croatian midfielder to move to the Premier League mid-season.
However, Como boss Cesc Fabregas was in no mood to sell him in January and dug his heels in to hold on to the young midfielder in the winter window.
Baturina starred in the second half of the season and played a key role in Como’s Champions League qualification last season.
And now the attacking midfielder has grabbed headlines on the world stage by scoring an absolute screamer against England in Croatia’s defeat.
It could be an early contender to be the goal of the tournament as he blasted a shot from outside the box, past England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
Baturina showed glimpses of the talent that convinced Leeds to try and push for his signing in the winter transfer window.
He is probably out of reach for Leeds now
The January winter window was probably the last opportunity for some time for Leeds to sign the Croatian attacking midfielder.
With Como in the Championship, Fabregas would want to hold on to the attacking midfielder, and he is unlikely to leave the club in the summer.
Bigger Premier League and European clubs also have their eyes on him, and even if Baturina leaves, his price has soared, and he would have better offers on the table.
Leeds have probably missed the small window of opportunity they had to sign him, and he will now likely be out of their financial reach in the near future.
