Leeds United now ‘only team’ chasing former loanee as interest from Inter Milan ‘fades’

As 2022 comes to an end it’s now time for the January transfer window to open once again as club’s across the country begin buying and selling players again.

Leeds United head to St James’ Park today for their final Premier League fixture of the year against Newcastle United before Jesse Marsch and the Elland Road recruitment team get to work ringing in reinforcements for the latter half of the campaign. The Whites are expected to be fairly busy next month and left-back could be one of the key positions they target.

According to a report from TeamTalk, referencing an article from Italian publication La Razon, the Yorkshire club will have a clear run at signing former loanee Alfonso Pedraza next month. The Spaniard was said to have been of interest to Serie A side Inter Milan, as well as Leeds, but interest in the player from the Italian giants has reportedly ‘faded’.

The 26-year old, who has been capped at Under 21 level by Spain, is also said to be an affordable target for Leeds with his Villarreal contract only running until 2026. It is claimed that “Leeds could have a good chance of snaring the left-back. The hope for the Whites would be that he can make an impact on the side.”

Pedraza had a brief spell at Elland Road in 2017 where United had the option to make his January loan move permanet for a fee of £8.5 million, but only if they gained promotion from the EFL Championship which they failed to do. He then spent the next season on loan at Alavés and also had another loan spell, this time with Betis, during the 2019/20 season.

Since that last loan spell the defender has been a fairly regular part of the Villarreal first team squad and, to date, has made just shy of 150 first team appearances and scored 11 goals. He has played 12 times for the Yellow Submarine this season, ten of those coming in the league, and has scored one goal which came in the Europa Conference League against Hajduk Split.