Leeds United ‘Come Forward’ For Star They Have Tracked Since 2020 | OneFootball

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Leeds United ‘have come forward’ with an interest in signing Benfica midfielder Florentino Luis, who they have been tracking since 2020, but they are not alone in their admiration of the player.

Benfica have managed to see off competition to land Colombia international midfielder Richard Rios from Brazilian side Palmerias.

There was significant interest in Rios from a number of clubs, including Italian giants Roma and Premier League sides, and Benfica’s capture has been seen as a coup.

Having landed Rios, Benfica could potentially decide to open the door to Luis leaving.

There have already been enquiries for the midfielder and, according to Italian journalist Gianluigi Longari, Leeds ‘have come forward’ to express their interest in Luis.

The Whites though are not alone as Everton and Burnley have also asked about Luis.

Leeds have managed to add Sean Longstaff and Anton Stach in midfield, but Daniel Farke may want an extra body to handle the demands of the Premier League.

Luis came through the youth set-up at Benfica and has had loan spells away from the Portuguese giants at Monaco and Getafe.

He has been on Leeds’ radar for several years, with the Whites keen on him in 2020, when they got promoted to the Premier League.

Nottingham Forest then looked at Luis in the summer of 2023, while Everton showed interest in the 2024 January transfer window.

Earlier in his career, Luis was compared to Brazil midfielder Casemiro.

His former coach in the Benfica youth set-up said: “[He has] an exceptional talent and physical qualities totally in line with his footballing qualities.

“[He] has a very similar profile to Casemiro.”

Luis made a substantial 45 appearances across all competitions for Benfica last season, including in the FIFA Club World Cup this summer.