Leeds United linked to Mexican national team captain Andrés Guardado

May the silly season begin.

Leeds United have been linked with Mexican national team captain Andrés Guardado who currently plays in Spain with Real Betis.

According to El Gol Digital, Real Betis are looking to sell Guardado on after a brilliant start to the season for the Mexico international. Leeds has been rumoured to willing to table a €6 million offer, which would be a tidy bit of business for Betis. Guardado seems to have rolled back the years during the first half of the season, scoring a goal and assisting on six others in only 13 appearances for Betis this season.

Guardado is a midfielder who began his career in Mexico with Atlas, before coming to Europe before the 2007-08 season to join La Liga’s Deportivo La Coruña. He played at Deportivo until joining Valencia before the 2012-13 season on a free transfer. While at Valencia, he was loaned to Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, before being loaned to PSV Eindhoven before being sold to the Eredivisie club before the 2015-16 season. He is currently the captain of the Mexico national team, and has appeared in 144 matches for El Tri, scoring 25 goals and assisting on 29 others.

Guardado is 31 years old and is coming off of a long career in Spain and for his country, so if Leeds do make this deal, this would be a move for help right now to solidify the midfield. He’s primarily a central midfielder who has filled-in at left back in the past, but he’s not a typical midfield destroyer, as he can pass, shoot and provide quality free-kicks.

Bringing in someone of his experience and quality would mean that Leeds would be aiming to get this team over the hump and into the play-off places this season. It would almost certainly mean that Mateusz Klich’s days at Elland Road are numbered, and it brings into question the amount of faith that Christiansen has in the quality and consistency of his current central midfielders.

Make no mistake, landing Guardado would be an absolute transfer coup for Leeds United. Players of his quality don’t usually end up in the Championship. Normally, I’d blow this kind of rumour off, as we’re going into silly season. However, if anything covering Leeds transfer rumours under Victor Orta has taught me, it’s that dodgy foreign sources end up being more reliable than the red tops in the UK. Saiz was first reported via a tweet, Caleb Ekuban via Ghanasoccer.net, etc.

So while this is a long shot, and it’s expensive, this would be great move to Leeds. Victor Orta has done some magic in the transfer window before, grabbing Saiz for £3 million, so never say never, right? 70% chance of Leeds making an inquiry, 50% chance of an actual transfer.