Premier League side Leeds United are ready to rival Barcelona for the signing of Celta Vigo left-back Javi Galan.
As per Mundo Deportivo (via Sports Witness), Leeds United are among the clubs interested in signing 27-year-old left-back Javi Galan this summer. They will, however, have to fend off interest from Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla.
The Whites were reportedly interested in Galan last summer as well, along with Sevilla, but Celta Vigo managed to sign the full-back from Huesca for €4 million, beating all competition. Leeds instead went ahead and brought in Junior Firpo from Barcelona for €15 million.
The Celta Vigo full-back has slotted in perfectly at the club, taking no time to assert his authority. He has started all but one league match for the Spanish side and has three assists to his name. The former Huesca star is technically astute, reads the game well and is defensively sound, making him an interesting prospect to have.
Galan will have four years remaining on his contract after the ongoing season. This makes things quite tricky for interested parties to convince Celta Vigo into selling him. He is also one of the first names on the teamsheet, the club consider him a prized asset and aren’t willing to let him leave.
While Barcelona, Atletico and Sevilla are showing interest from Spain, Leeds are trying to lure the full-back to England. Junio Firpo’s move from Barcelona hasn’t worked like Leeds would have hoped for and are eager to provide competition to the full-back. Galan has been identified as a possible option, but Leeds will have to work very hard to materialise the move.
Barcelona are on the lookout for a long-term replacement for their first-choice left-back Jordi Alba after selling Firpo to Leeds last summer. Numerous names have been linked with a move to Camp Nou, with Galan also emerging as an option that manager Xavi Hernandez is considering.
With Atletico Madrid and Sevilla also in the hunt, along with Barcelona and Leeds, the race to sign Galan seems to be heating up ahead of the summer window. It remains to be seen if the Whites are able to beat the competition from the Spanis sides and land the 27-year-old.
