Leeds United’s Pierre-Michel Lasogga hints at Premier League move

Pierre-Michel Lasogga joined Leeds United near the transfer deadline this past August on loan from Hamburger SV in the Bundesliga. Lasogga was brought in to replace the departed Chris Wood, who left for Burnley. Lasogga’s loan deal was seen as a transfer coup for Leeds, as the German striker had been a productive Bundesliga player when he was healthy, and Hamburg was heavily subsidizing his wages.

However, as the season has progressed for Leeds, his future has seemed more cloudy. When it appeared that Leeds were in the running for a promotion spot, it was hoped that the striker would be able to stay at Leeds. And even when things went pear-shaped in January, Lasogga was one of the shining lights at the club, scoring a number of goals and was one of the few players to acquit himself well during the poor run of form that Leeds have been on.

German publication fussball.news published an article today about Lasogga and on the subject of Lasogga’s future at the club, it said:

Doch wie geht es weiter mit dem Angreifer? Victor Orta, Sportdirektor von Leeds, sagte bereits: „Wir sind ein Klub mit begrenzten finanziellen Möglichkeiten. Wie die Lage in Hamburg aussieht, ist schwer einzuschätzen.“ Lasogga selbst würde gerne in England bleiben. „Vielleicht geht ja ein Kindheitstraum in Erfüllung“, sagte er – und deutete damit auf die Premier League hin. Möglicherweise hat er sich ja bereits mit einigen Treffern in die Notizbücher diverser Erstligisten geschossen.

Which translates to:

But what happens next with the attacker? Victor Orta, sporting director of Leeds, already said: “We are a club with limited financial resources. It’s difficult to say what the situation in Hamburg is.” Lasogga himself would be happy to stay in England. “Maybe a childhood dream would come true,” he said - indicating the Premier League. He has potentially already scored his way onto the notebooks of various first-league clubs with some of his goals.

The quote from Victor Orta seems in line with what Leeds have always said about his wages and transfer fee, that a deal could be done for him, but that the wage demands and transfer fee would always make the costs prohibitive.

It’s been speculated before that Lasogga would be in frame for a move to a Premier League after the season, and this quote by him in the German press would seem to indicate that it’s at least a possibility. We’d all hoped that his chance at the Premier League would have come with Leeds, but that appears that won’t be the case.

[Editor’s note: Big thanks to John N. Dillon of SBNation’s Bayern Munich fansite Bavarian Football Works for the translation.]