Relegation battle survivors Leeds United look to re-construct their Premier League foundations this summer and have turned to Austria in the opening phases of that process under manager Jesse Marsch.
Leeds already secured a deal for highly-touted United States international creative midfielder Brenden Aaronson last week in a deal that set the Elland Road club back a shade under £30million, but the club could be set to go straight back to Salzburg with a bid for Danish international right-back Rasmus Kristensen, according to transfer insider Fabrizio Romano citing the Athletic’s Phil Hay.
Leeds have an opening bid ready for Rasmus Kristensen. Talks ongoing with RB Salzburg, negotiations are concrete – he’s the fav right-back in the list as per @PhilHay_ ⚪️?? #LUFC
Personal terms not an issue – Leeds want Kristensen after Aaronson deal completed with RB Salzburg.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 31, 2022
The 24-year-old native of Brande arrived in the Austrian Bundesliga in 2019 after rising through the youth ranks at FC Midtjylland before spending two years in the first-team setup between 2016-18 when he would then move to Dutch giants AFC Ajax for another one-and-a-half season’s.
Kristensen has gone on to become the first-choice right-back at Red Bull Arena in the last two seasons, and Leeds could be set to bring the Danish defender into the fold under his former Salzburg manager with aging duo Luke Ayling and Stuart Dallas likely to be viewed as below standard for the American manager.
With Marsch hoping to establish a similar system that was seen under beloved former boss Marcelo Bielsa, one of the key factors that Kristensen brings to the table that the likes of Ayling and Dallas lack at current is both goals as well as assists.
The Danish international bagged 7-goals in 29-appearances in the Austrian top flight last season, which doesn’t include the 3-goals in 6-appearances in the ÖFB-Cup.
Similar was seen from the potential Leeds player the season prior as well in 2020-21, hitting 3-goals in 31-appearances and a very credible 8-goal contributions overall in the same period.
A potential pipeline to the current heart of Austrian football through Marsch’s connections and understanding of former players under his wing in Salzburg could certainly serve the club well as they look for solutions to distance themselves from the possibility of relegation moving forward.
This article was edited by
Josh Barker.
