Leeds in shock link with record Middlesbrough signing Assombalonga

It’s no secret that Leeds United are looking into bringing in a new striker into the club. After selling Chris Wood to Burnley last August, the team has not had a consistent goal-scoring threat from the striker position.

Leeds brought in a number of potential replacements to the club, but none of them worked out and many of them have either left or are on their way out the door. Loanee Pierre-Michel Lasogga returned to Germany and his parent club Hamburger SV who are now playing in the 2.Bundesliga. Caleb Ekuban, brought in from Chievo Verona, has been terrible and looks to be on his way out of the club. And both Pawel Cibicki and Jay-Roy Grot have left on loan.

It is now rumoured that Leeds might go for Middlesbrough striker Britt Assombalonga. Assombalonga was a record signing for Boro last summer, moving from Nottingham Forest for £15 million. However, Assombalonga’s time at Boro hasn’t been as expected.

Assomnalonga was dropped from the Boro starting line-up by manager Tony Pulis last season and now the two of them reportedly had a bust-up in training camp, leading to the striker to want to move on from Boro. A number of other Championship teams are reportedly interested in the striker, including Leeds United, Swansea City, and Birmingham City.

Boro will be looking for a significant transfer fee for Assombalonga, meaning that if Leeds move for the striker, that any deal for Derby County’s Matej Vydra is probably dead in the water. Additionally, a large transfer fee might put off interest from Birmingham, despite the presence of manager Garry Monk, who signed Assombalonga for Boro last season. Nottingham Forest are reportedly willing to have him back at the City Ground, but a deal between Forest and AFC Bournemouth for Lewis Grabban might have eliminated that potential landing place for Assombalonga.

Assombalonga has a pretty decent scoring record in the Championship, scoring 15 goals twice and 14 goals once in three Championship seasons. It would be a pretty decent transfer coup if Leeds were able to land both Assomalonga and Vrydra, but that’s almost certainly not going to happen. A proven striker might be a bigger need than another creative midfielder, but it all depends on what Bielsa feels the team needs.

Do you think that Assombalonga would be a good signing? And if so, what fee would make you say “no thanks” for the striker? Let us know in the comments.