Freiburg 'preparing' for Roland Sallai exit after 'unexpected turn' amid Leeds United transfer interest

Leeds United have been linked with a shock move for Roland Sallai this week and reports from his native Hungary suggest they are currently leading the race as SC Freiburg prepare to sell.

Sallai was first revealed as a possible target for Leeds via the YEP’s Inside Elland Road newsletter on Wednesday, with a previously unattainable target now becoming a tangible possibility late in the window. The 26-year-old is into the final 12 months of his contract with Freiburg and so could be moved on, although he will not be short of offers as an experienced international.

Having featured for Hungary at Euro 2024, Sallai was handed a long summer break and was not in the Freiburg squad for last week’s 4-0 DFB-Pokal win over VfL Osnabruck. And now Hungarian outlet Mandiner claim the Bundesliga club are ‘preparing for his departure’, naming Leeds as the attacker’s ‘most persistent suitors’.

Such a move, dropping into the Championship, is seen as an ‘unexpected turn’ but Elland Road recruitment chiefs will hope to sell the project of returning to top-flight football in the Premier League after helping win promotion for Daniel Farke’s side. Convincing Sallai of that project could prove the biggest task for Leeds, who expect to face serious competition for his signature if a move starts to look likely.

Mandiner’s report also relays claims from Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg, who revealed on Thursday that Freiburg were eyeing a possible replacement for Sallai. Hertha BSC’s Fabian Reese is on the radar in south-west Germany but in order to sign the 26-year-old, they must first ‘sell at least one offensive player’.

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Plettenberg does not state who that potential sale might be, but Sallai’s contract situation will leave Freiburg with a decision to make. He and left-back Berkay Yilmaz are the only two players into the final year of their respective deals and so there is a risk of them leaving for free next summer, if a sale is not sanctioned over the next week.

German outlet BILD (via 90min.de) reported earlier this summer that Sallai was set to leave Freiburg in this window, having made the decision to find a new challenge instead of extending his six-year stay with the Bundesliga outfit. But there has been little noise as to where he may go until recent links with Leeds.

Recent reports surrounding Sallai could pique the interest of other admirers, leaving Leeds with a challenge in convincing the 52-cap Hungarian international to drop down a league. But they are seemingly the waters club chiefs want to swim in as they aim to replace Premier League-quality players in Archie Gray, Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville.

The latter of those three has been replaced, with Leeds confirming the £10million arrival of Largie Ramazani from UD Almeria on Thursday evening. The 23-year-old put pen to paper on a four-year contract as the first arrival in over a month, with a minimum of three more wanted by Farke.

Sallai is among a number of attacking options being eyed as Leeds look to replace the gap left by Georginio, with Tottenham Hotspur’s Manor Solomon and Ilan Kebbal of Paris FC also linked recently. Farke is also keen to sign another starting central midfielder but reports from Germany on Friday morning claim Leeds have pulled out of the race for 1.FC Koln’s Dejan Ljubičić. Cover at full-back is also needed.