Leeds United transfer target reportedly pushing for Elland Road move as 'contract offer rejected' — YEP 20/8/24
By Joe Donnohue
Leeds United transfer target Dejan Ljubicic is reportedly
pushing for an Elland Road move from German 2. Bundesliga outfit 1. FC Koln
this summer.
The Austrian international missed Koln's DFB-Pokal fixture
against SV Sandhausen at the weekend with the club citing 'knee problems' for
his absence. However, according to various reports in Germany, the player
trained as planned during the week leading up to the game and is instead
attempting to force Koln's hand in sanctioning a transfer.
Newly-relegated Koln are not likely to part with Ljubicic on
the cheap, though, given they are currently under transfer embargo and unable
to register new players, which would limit their ability to replace Ljubicic.
Leeds saw a £3.3 million bid rejected earlier this summer
and while the 26-year-old's omission from the matchday squad last weekend is
not understood to have been prompted by a second, improved bid, the player
supposedly remains keen on an Elland Road switch.
On Monday, Kicker reported the suspected reason for
Ljubicic's absence over the weekend, which has been corroborated by BILD, who
claim the Austrian is trying to 'push through a move'.
The player's Koln contract expires at the end of this
season, which would see him leave on a free transfer having reportedly turned
down an extension earlier this summer.
Thomas Kessler, who holds the position of head of first-team
football at Effzeh, said last month he was confident of retaining the player
and that an Austrian coaching team had been assembled in a bid to make Ljubicic
feel as at home as possible.
Now, it appears the second tier German club are in a tricky
situation, posed with the choice of accepting any forthcoming bids which meet a
certain valuation or dig their heels in and lose the Austrian international on
a free transfer next summer.