Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori is reportedly on the radar of Leeds United, who continue to hold an interest in Manchester United winger Daniel James.
According to a report by Football Insider, Leeds United are monitoring the situation of Fikayo Tomori at Chelsea. The Whites are keeping tabs on the English international with the hopes of making a loan move for him in the January transfer window.
Tomori made his true breakthrough at Chelsea last term, when he established himself as a regular member of the first-team setup following his return from a loan spell with Derby County. However, after a largely impressive campaign, the youngster has inexplicably fallen down the pecking order.
While Thiago Silva was always expected to be the first-choice centre-back for Chelsea after arriving from PSG, he is well behind Kurt Zouma in the race to be Silva’s regular partner. In fact, even Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger, who has been linked with a departure for a long time, being preferred to the 22-year-old.
Things seem to have reached a head for Tomori at Chelsea, with a January loan exit being mooted now. The likes of Newcastle United and OGC Nice have been linked with a possible temporary swoop in recent weeks. And, it now looks like Leeds are interested in him as well.
While Marcelo Bielsa recently iterated that Leeds will not enter the transfer market for a centre-back, the injury to Robin Koch ought to change things for the Whites. With Diego Llorente being slow to settle in at Elland Road, it might not be a bad move for Leeds to snap up someone like Tomori, who has experience in the Premier League with Chelsea.
For now, Leeds are simply keeping tabs on Tomori’s situation at Chelsea, but the report does claim that a loan move cannot be ruled out. Frank Lampard is open to such a prospect as well and we might just see Tomori make his way to Elland Road for the second half of the season.
Meanwhile, as per James Ducker of the Daily Telegraph, Leeds have not ended their interest in Daniel James. The Manchester United winger remains the subject of interest of the Whites, who could test United’s resolve with a possible offer to sign him in the January transfer window.
Daniel James joined Manchester United from Swansea City in the summer of 2019 and made an instant impact at Old Trafford in what was a slow start to the 2019/20 campaign. However, the Welshman fizzled out just as quickly and the subsequent advent of Mason Greenwood has rendered him to be a backup option.
So far this season, James has largely been restricted to appearances in cup competitions, with starts in the Premier League coming few and far between. With his predicament worsening, it has been mooted that James could perhaps, be subjected to a possible bid over a move this winter.
Leeds have been famously linked with James since before he joined Manchester United and were reportedly vying for his signature in the summer transfer window as well. A move did not materialise then, but Leeds retain their interest in James and could test Manchester United’s resolve again.
Currently, Marcelo Bielsa has the likes of Raphinha, Jack Harrison and Helder Costa at his disposal to man the flanks. In James, the Leeds manager could have yet another option in order to rotate his troops better in a packed season.
That James could fall further down the pecking order if Amad Diallo ends up arriving at Old Trafford this January means that Leeds could indeed be in business. What now remains to be seen is if Manchester United will indeed receive an offer from Leeds for their young winger, or if the Welsh international continues his stint with the Red Devils till the end of the season.
