Leeds United are in advanced talks over a deal to bring Ismaila Sarr to Elland Road this summer.
What’s the latest?
That’s according to Santi Aouna, with the Foot Mercato journalist revealing in a recent post on Twitter that, following earlier reports of the Whites’ interest in a £25m move for the Watford forward, Victor Orta is now close to agreeing personal terms with the 24-year-old.
However, Aouna also went on to claim that the Senegal international’s arrival in LS11 is dependent on the departure of one of Jesse Marsch’s current first-team squad, while the journalist also revealed that Patrick Vieira has now contacted the attacker regarding a potential switch to Crystal Palace prior to September’s transfer deadline.
In his post, Aouna said: “Crystal Palace darkens on Ismaila Sarr. Patrick Vieira has already exchanged with the player. Leeds are strongly interested and have almost a salary agreement with the player but his arrival is conditional on a departure.”
An “unbelievable” coup
Considering just how talented a forward Sarr has proven himself to be over the past few years, in addition to Crystal Palace now looking to have entered the race for the 24-year-old, the argument that the Senegalese sensation would be an unbelievable coup for Orta to pull of this summer is an easy one to make.
Indeed, over his 28 Premier League outings in his debut campaign for Watford back in 2019/20, the £24.3m-rated talent highly impressed, bagging five goals, providing six assists and creating nine big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.6 shots, making 0.9 key passes and completing 1.7 dribbles per game.
Despite the Hornets’ ultimate relegation from the top flight that season, the £71k-per-week Sarr once again caught the eye over his 39 Championship outings in 2020/21, scoring 13 goals, registering ten assists and creating 11 big chances – playing a key role in Watford securing an immediate return to the top flight of English football.
The versatile forward – who is comfortable operating from any position across a front three – impressed yet again over his 28 Premier League fixtures in 2021/22, notching five goals, providing two assists and creating five big chances for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of 1.8 shots, making one key pass and completing 1.5 dribbles per match.
However, once more, the Hornets found themselves in the bottom three come the end of the campaign, and the player who Troy Deeney dubbed “unbelievable” has rather predictably impressed upon his return to the second tier, having already scored one goal, registered one assist and created one big chance over his three appearances in the current campaign.
As such, with Patrick Bamford’s latest injury setback leaving Marsch extremely short of depth up top, in addition to the signing of a new forward well-known to be one of Orta’s priorities over the remainder of the summer transfer window, the Spaniard simply must do all he can to land Sarr in the coming weeks.
It is clear the 24-year-old’s versatility, creativity and ability in front of goal would all make him something of a perfect addition to the Whites’ attacking arsenal this season.