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With so much of the focus on the last eight games of the season, there haven’t been very many rumours about potential transfer targets in the summer. Perhaps because even at this late stage, Marcelo Bielsa and Victor Orta, the Leeds United Director of Football, aren’t even sure what league the club will be playing in next season.
#ASRoma have joined the race for #PSV Eindhoven creative midfielder Justin Lonwijk, already targeted by Eintracht Frankfurt and Leeds United https://t.co/WWmgQrXPTd #LUFC #SGE pic.twitter.com/QfA1jEsrPE
— footballitalia (@footballitalia) March 19, 2019
Reports out of Italy indicate that PSV Eindhoven 19 year-old attacking midfielder Justin Lonwijk is on the transfer radar of Leeds, and they’re not alone. Both AS Roma and Eintracht Frankfurt are reportedly interested in signing the youth player this summer. His contract is reportedly up, although PSV is attempting to sign the player to a contract extension before his current deal runs out.
Lonwijk currently plays for the Dutch club’s U21 team, where he’s made 24 appearances and scored six goals after appearing for the U19 side 50 times where he scored 20 goals and had six assists. He’s also made nine appearances for the Netherlands U19 team.
If Leeds are able to pull this signing off, don’t expect him to make the leap to the first team right away. Leeds have had a decent record signing youth players from overseas, as with the recent signing of Mateusz Bogusz, and have developed a number of first team players from within the club, with players such as Tom Pearce, Jamie Shackleton, Aapo Halme, and Jack Clarke all coming through the youth system to make first team appearances.
Is this all just an agent trying to drum up interest for his client? After all, an agent could do worse than to bring up Bielsa’s name in trying to get a teenager a better contract. Perhaps, and even if the club is suddenly flush with Premier League cash, Leeds are still going to scour Europe for players that will fit into Bielsa’s system. This rumour probably won’t go anywhere, but then again, would you have believed that Bielsa was coming to Leeds at this time last year or that there would be two midfielders with the first name Mateusz at the club? Stranger things have happened.