On Friday it was widely reported that Newcastle United were very keen on centre-back Abdukodir Khusanov from RC Lens.
A few reports would go as far as to make out that personal terms were already agreed and it was now just down to the clubs agreeing a fee, but we felt that was a bit unlikely at this point.
Newcastle are in the market for a central defender, and Khusanov has been said to possess all the hallmarks of a player who would suit the Premier League game and is likely to cost far less than the likes of Marc Guehi.
Indeed, RC Lens have tasked Khuzanov's agent, Jorge Mendes, to find a new club for the Uzbekistan defender in a bid to raise €44 million to balance their books.
While Newcastle are joined by Tottenham and Manchester City in their admiration for the 20-year-old defender, it is in fact, Leeds United who have reportedly made the first move.
Caught Offside are reporting that Daniel Farke has got the ball rolling with a €20 million (£16.5 million) bid to hopefully bring the player to Leeds in order to help them secure promotion back to the Premier League.
They'll no doubt be hoping that none of the Premier League sides monitoring the situation are ready to step in and outbid them, although a move to the Championship may not be a bad way to go for Khusanov.
Unless something drastic happens to Leeds' form in the second half of the season, they look like they'll be returning to the Premier League, so Kusanov could get used to English football with six months in the Championship before moving into the Premier League.
He's probably more likely to be given first-team football at Leeds too which could influence his decision.
Lens were expecting €25 million for Khusanov, however, and Leeds may have just kicked off a bidding war rather than beaten anyone to the punch.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
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23 | 35 | 56 |
2 |
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24 | 27 | 50 |
3 |
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24 | 13 | 47 |
4 |
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24 | 16 | 43 |
5 |
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24 | 13 | 41 |
6 |
![]() |
24 | 13 | 41 |
7 |
![]() |
24 | 13 | 40 |
8 |
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24 | -3 | 37 |
9 |
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24 | 4 | 36 |
10 |
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24 | -3 | 34 |
11 |
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24 | 0 | 31 |
12 |
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24 | -2 | 30 |
13 |
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24 | -6 | 29 |
14 |
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24 | 11 | 27 |
15 |
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24 | -17 | 27 |
16 |
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23 | -5 | 26 |
17 |
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24 | -18 | 19 |
18 |
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24 | -28 | 17 |
19 |
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24 | -27 | 16 |
20 |
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24 | -36 | 9 |