Fabrizio Romano makes Leeds United 'concrete interest' claim with Chelsea star set to leave 'in coming days'

Leeds United are one of two Championship promotion hopefuls to have reportedly shown ‘concrete interest’ in signing Chelsea youngster Bashir Humphreys.

Humphreys emerged as a potential target for second-tier clubs with a move away from Chelsea looking increasingly likely amid their continued spending. The versatile defender has fallen further down the pecking order this summer and after enjoying a taste of first-team football on loan at Swansea City last season, he is keen to continue doing so away from Stamford Bridge.

And now Fabrizio Romano reports that Humphreys is set to leave Chelsea ‘in the coming days’ with Leeds and Burnley both showing interest in the 21-year-old. It is thought Chelsea would prefer to sell their academy prospect but a loan move has not been ruled out, with multiple Bundesliga clubs also reportedly in the race.

Humphreys has played most of his senior football at centre-back but can comfortably operate at right-back as well, having shown his versatility during last season’s loan spell at Swansea. The England youth international made 26 appearances for the Championship outfit and spent the previous campaign at German second-tier outfit SC Paderborn.

It is unclear how far along Leeds are in their interest but a move for Humphreys doesn’t look to be a priority, with focus more on reinforcements out wide and in central midfield. Daniel Farke has hinted at a desire to find defensive cover but known interest in Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Hugo Bueno suggests cover is needed more at left-back than in the centre or on the right.

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Leeds are relatively well-stocked at centre-back with fully-fledged Austrian international and Bundesliga regular last season Max Wober watching Saturday’s 3-3 draw against Portsmouth from the bench. Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk remain Farke’s first-choice pairing and the Whites boss has praised academy prospect James Debayo recently, a suggestion he would be more than happy to lean on the 19-year-old if needed.

Wober is thought to have made clear his desire to stay at Leeds for the upcoming season but sent out a similar message a year ago before eventually joining Borussia Monchengladbach on loan. The former RB Salzburg is yet to publicly comment on his future in the same way fellow loan returnee Brenden Aaronson did during the pre-season camp in Germany.

Leeds are thought to be keeping tabs on Humphreys but for now, focus is on strengthening further forward. The club remain in talks with Norwich City are showing initial interest in Jonathan Rowe, albeit their suggestion of a £7million deal fell some way short, with French outfit Olympique de Marseille threatening to hijack a move.

Rowe omitted himself from Norwich’s matchday squad for Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Oxford United, a last-minute decision manager Johannes Hoff Thorup was understandably displeased with. It remains to be seen whether Leeds will in fact table a formal offer for the 21-year-old but talks are ongoing.

Leeds also saw a £3.3m bid rejected by FC Koln for their midfielder, Dejan Ljubicic, and are yet to improve on that number. The German club are under a transfer embargo and so could be hesitant to lose players they cannot replace.