Leeds United told it would take 'mega offer' to land transfer target after opening bid rejected

Leeds United would need to submit a ‘mega offer’ to sign midfielder Dejan Ljubicic after seeing an initial bid rejected by FC Koln, according to reports in Germany.

Ljubicic was the subject of a €4million (around £3.3m) offer from Leeds at the end of last month, having been identified as a possible successor to the outgoing Glen Kamara. Finland international Kamara joined Stade Rennais in a deal worth around £8m earlier this summer and, having been in Daniel Farke’s plans for next season, will need to be replaced.

Leeds might believe they are in a strong position to negotiate for Ljubicic, who is into the final year of his contract for the recently-relegated Koln. But after knocking back that opening offer they appear to be standing firm and German outlet BILD claims they will not settle for a fee that doesn’t satisfy them financially.

There is no detail on what that fee may be, but BILD suggest it would take a ‘mega offer’ for Koln to come to the table. The report does, however, state that Ljubicic is thinking about the possibility of a move away from the German outfit and while he dreams of ‘big-time football’, Leeds’ current Championship status is no issue due to their Premier League ambitions.

Leeds aren’t yet believed to have improved on that opening offer and it remains to be seen if they will, with speculation going quiet since Ljubicic’s name first emerged in reports almost two weeks ago. The Austrian has since featured for Koln in their opening Bundesliga 2 fixture, a 2-1 defeat against Hamburger SV last Friday.

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The 26-year-old got 90 minutes under his belt and, despite the result, showed exactly why Leeds were after him with a lung-busting midfield performance that produced a lovely assist. While there are still several weeks of the transfer window remaining and plenty of time to get business done, his presence in the starting line-up suggests a move is not imminent.

And Ljubicic has since spoken out on speculation, remaining coy on his future when quizzed about links of a move away. “Rumours are part of football,” he told German outlet 90Minuten. “I don’t concern myself with them. I’m here in Cologne, I want to perform well again. I want to show people that ‘Dejan is playing good, powerful football again.’”

Leeds have been linked with other central midfielders since Koln rejected their offer, namely Birmingham City’s Jordan James and Gabriel Sara of Norwich. The latter certainly won’t be making the move to Elland Road, having already secured a £20m move from Norwich City to Galatasaray.

That area of the pitch remains a key area of focus between now and August 30, with competition needed in the more attacking role. Joe Rothwell signed on loan from Bournemouth last month but was brought in to compliment Kamara, rather than replace him.

While the 2024/25 season kicks off in just two days, Leeds are in no particular rush to get a new midfielder through the door with no known fitness issues and adequate cover for now, with one of Ilia Gruev or Rothwell expected to start alongside club captain Ethan Ampadu at home to Portsmouth on Saturday.