Leeds United target unexpectedly misses fixture as report claims player wants Elland Road move

The player is reported to have trained as planned on Friday afternoon but was then absent from Köln’s matchday squad as the 2. Bundesliga side relied on an extra time winner in the cup.

German outlet Kicker claim Ljubičić is attempting to push through a move to Elland Road after an initial £3.3 million (€4m) offer was rejected earlier this summer.

United remain in the market for a central midfielder with manager Daniel Farke confirming as much in each of his last two press conferences.

Köln are not minded to part ways with the Austrian international and would find themselves unable to replace the 26-year-old due to a transfer ban prohibiting the registering of new players.

It is not yet known whether a fresh bid from Leeds has been submitted but any transfer agreement is only likely to be reached if United up their offer.

Ljubičić is contracted to the German club until the end of 2024/25 raising a real possibility Köln could lose him on a free transfer at the end of the campaign. The club’s head of first-team football Thomas Kessler said in an interview earlier this month he had no concerns that Ljubičić would leave: “We have even built an Austrian coaching team for him so that he will lack nothing here, so I firmly believe that he will remain our player.”