Leeds United linked with obscure transfer of £3m striker primed for Elland Road education

The 24-year-old currently plays for Israeli Premier League side Maccabi Tel Aviv but is reportedly set to leave the club after two successful seasons in front of goal.

Jovanovic has scored 32 times in 62 appearances for the Tel Aviv outfit and per Sports Walla, could be of interest to Leeds.

Last year, the Serbian forward joined his current club from FK Cukaricki where he also boasted an impressive goalscoring record.

Maccabi Tel Aviv recently appointed former Whites striker Robbie Keane as the club’s new manager. The Irishman was among Sam Allardyce’s backroom team at Elland Road for the final four games of the 2022/23 season and has swiftly moved into a senior managerial role following his experience coaching in the Premier League.

Should Leeds’ interest in Jovanovic prove to be genuine, Keane may yet have a hand in providing an education of sorts to the young centre-forward.

Ordinarily, Jovanovic would not meet the United Kingdom’s points-based GBE (governing body endorsement) criteria which would deny him a work permit to play in England, however new rules introduced this summer permit teams in the Championship and Premier League to sign up to four players who would not meet the 15-point threshold usually required for foreign players signed from minor leagues.

Sports Walla claim Jovanovic could be available for £3.25 million (€3.8 million), twice the amount Maccabi Tel Aviv paid for the striker in January 2022.

United will be in the market for several players this summer in what could prove to be a busy two months for transfer incomings and outgoings at Thorp Arch.

The club are expected to announce a new head coach – widely expected to be former Norwich City boss Daniel Farke – following the completion of 49ers Enterprises full takeover of the club.