Leeds United star 'available' for £30m as promotion rivals join race for out-of-contract West Ham man

Leeds United can climb into the Championship’s automatic promotion places with victory at Middlesbrough this evening. Daniel Farke’s side enjoyed a mixed bag of results over the weekend with Leicester City beating West Brom but Southampton losing 2-1 at Cardiff City.

With Ipswich Town not in action until Saturday, Leeds have the chance to go second and open up a four-point gap, should they take maximum points from Boro and Queens Park Rangers. It’s set to be another huge week in the Championship promotion race and in the meantime, The YEP has rounded up some of the latest stories to come out of Elland Road.

Gnonto price-tag

Leeds are reportedly ‘likely’ to accept an offer close to £30million for Wilfried Gnonto this summer, should they fail to achieve promotion. Football Insider reports that the 20-year-old will be ‘available’ for between £20-30m, with an offer close to the higher end enough to sanction a potential exit.

Gnonto was the subject of serious Premier League interest last summer, with Everton thought to have had a number of bids worth up to £30m rejected. The Italian international even handed in a transfer request but after Leeds refused to budge, he withdrew it and has seemingly left the agency that advised him.

Interest in Gnonto has remained and the winger has enjoyed a strong run of form since the turn of the year, with seven of his eight goals coming since February. Promotion would put Leeds in a much stronger position financially but failure to go up could lead to sales.

Johnson race

Southampton and Ipswich Town have both reportedly joined the race for West Ham full-back Ben Johnson. The Sunday Mirror reports that the Championship trio are joined by Crystal Palace in keeping an eye on things with Johnson’s contract set to expire this summer.

Johnson is yet to sign a new deal at West Ham and so could leave as a free agent this summer, with a number of clubs keeping close tabs on the situation. Manager David Moyes is keen to keep hold of the versatile defender but the lack of progress so late in the season suggests an exit is the more likely outcome.

Leeds were known admirers of the 24-year-old in January as they searched for defensive reinforcements, following the decision to send Djed Spence back to Tottenham and loan Luke Ayling to Middlesbrough. A deal never materialised but full-back remains a key position to strengthen at Elland Road this summer.