Leeds United reportedly interested in Serie A defender Filip Helander

Leeds United has apparently identified a new transfer target.

With all of the attention being paid to the midfield and attacking options, with Leeds being linked to Huesca’s Samu Saiz, Lugano’s Ezgjan Alioski, and the signing of FC Twente’s Matuesz Klich, not much attention has been paid to defensive targets in the rumor mill. The lone exception is that of Granda’s Iceland international centre back Sverrir Ingason, who has been linked to both Leeds and Huddersfield Town. Plenty of other rumors have been floated about, with loan deals for Chelsea midfielders and even the rumored medical of a German goalkeeper from Werder Bremen.

However, it was reported today that Leeds are believed to have put in a bid for Sweden international centre back Filip Helander. 24 year old Helander came up through the ranks at Swedish club Malmo FF, where he was a teammate of Pontus Jansson. And like Jansson, Helander transferred to Serie A, where Helander landed at Hellas Verona in 2015. When Verona were relegated after the 2015-16 season, Helander went on loan to Bologna for the 2016-17 season with an option to buy.

The deal for Helander was made permanent this summer with a fee of about €2 million, but it looks as if Bologna is interested in cashing in on the 6’4” Swedish defender already. It’s good news for Leeds, however, given that Jansson would be given a partner that he has already played with on both the club level, at Malmo FF, and at the international level, since Helander has been called up twice to the Sweden national team.

The good news keeps on coming for Leeds fans, with the long awaited buy-back of Elland Road finally completed by new owner Andrea Radrizzani yesterday and the return of the Leeds Ladies team earlier in the week. What a time to be a Leeds fan. After years of starts and stops, it appears that good times are surely ahead. Here’s hoping that this potential transfer is as good as his former Malmo teammate Jansson.