Leeds willing to pay £17m to sign new CF with “Raul qualities”

Leeds United are in the market to make further additions to their first-team squad, on top of the two that they have already made, ahead of the Premier League season.

The Whites won the Championship title with a staggering haul of 100 points in the 2024/25 campaign, but they know that they need to add more quality to their team for the top-flight.

Daniel Farke has already brought in two new recruits, one at either end of the pitch, as Lukas Nmecha has joined on a free transfer from Wolfsburg and Jaka Bijol has been signed on a permanent deal from Udinese.

The West Yorkshire outfit are planning further moves in the market, though, as they aim to buck the trend after the last six newly-promoted teams all got relegated at the first time of asking.

Nmecha, who scored three goals in 19 Bundesliga matches last season, is not going to be the only striker who arrives at Elland Road this summer, as the club look for their new marksman.

The last time Leeds were promoted to the Premier League, Victor Orta swooped to sign Rodrigo from Valencia for Marcelo Bielsa, which turned out to be an excellent piece of business.

Why Leeds hit gold with Rodrigo

The Whites raised eyebrows in the summer of 2020 when they smashed their transfer record to sign the Spain international from the LaLiga outfit for a reported fee of £30m.

Leeds needed to bring in proven quality to bridge the gap to the Premier League, following their promotion from the second tier, and they found what they were looking for in Rodrigo, who had produced 59 goals and 41 assists in 220 games for Valencia.

The left-footed star hit the ground running in the Premier League, thanks to his experience at the top level in Spain, with a return of seven goals and two assists in the Premier League for Bielsa.

As you can see in the table above, all eight of his goal contributions were important and meaningful ones, as Leeds picked up seven wins and one draw in the eight matches in which he provided a goal or an assist.

These statistics show that Rodrigo, who then scored 19 goals in the next two Premier League seasons combined, was a big success for the Whites, as they hit the jackpot on a star who had already shown his quality in Spain.

Leeds willing to spend big on Spanish striker

According to a report from Spain, Leeds United are now eyeing up a star who could be their next version of Rodrigo, as they are interested in a deal to sign Gonzalo Garcia from Real Madrid.

The outlet claims that the Whites are willing to bid on the Los Blancos starlet in a move to improve their options at the top end of the pitch, but they are facing competition from numerous clubs.

It states that Leeds are prepared to pay more than £17m to sign the 21-year-old centre-forward before the end of the summer transfer window, and that they are looking to sign him on a permanent deal right away.

Whereas Premier League rivals Sunderland are said to have proposed a loan deal with an obligation to sign him for £15m if they avoid relegation back down to the second tier.

Real Oviedo and AS Roma are also interested in signing the Spanish striker, whom Real Madrid would want a £25m buy-back clause for in any potential deal.

It now remains to be seen whether or not Leeds’ willingness to pay £17m+ for the forward will be enough to see them win the race for his signature.

Why Leeds should sign Gonzalo Garcia

The Whites should push to secure his services before the end of the summer transfer window because he has the potential to arrive at Elland Road as Farke’s own version of Rodrigo.

Garcia is not as experienced as Bielsa’s £30m signing was, as he has only played nine first-team games for Real Madrid, but he would be another striker to arrive from Spain with an impressive goal return and the potential to be a key player for the Whites in their first year back in the Premier League.

The 21-year-old sensation got the call-up to the first-team squad for the Club World Cup under Xabi Alonso and has caught the eye so far, with a return of two goals and one assist in three games.

Garcia, who Alonso claimed has “Raul qualities”, scored a staggering 25 goals in 36 appearances in the third tier of Spanish football for Real Madrid Castilla last season, which speaks to his ability to find the back of the net on a regular basis.

As you can see in the table above, the forward has impressed in America for Real Madrid’s senior side, ranking highly among his positional peers in a host of key attacking metrics.

Garcia being compared to Raul, who scored 324 goals for Real, sums up his style of play; he is a natural goalscorer. The Leeds target is an old-fashioned number nine who keeps it simple and delivers in front of goal, as shown by his record for his club’s first-team and B team.

Whilst he may not be as proven as Rodrigo was at the time of his move to Elland Road, there appears to be enough evidence to suggest that the young marksman has what it takes to have as big of an impact in the final third in the Premier League next season.

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Leeds United could soon seal another fantastic defensive deal by landing this cut-price star.

It is now down to the board, though, to ensure that they can beat Sunderland, Real Oviedo, and Roma to his signature in the weeks to come.