Borussia Monchengladbach Sign Replacement For Nico Elvedi | OneFootball

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Borussia Monchengladbach have brought in a replacement for Nico Elvedi, who joined Leeds United this week, in the form of Ko Itakura.

Leeds sold Pascal Struijk to Brighton early in the window and they managed to secure the signature of Tarik Muharemovic from Sassuolo to bring in another central defender.

Sebastiaan Bornauw was keen on a move out of Elland Road this summer in search of regular football and Hamburg came calling for him, which Leeds were happy to do amid Elvedi arriving.

Gladbach’s Swiss international Elvedi was on Leeds radar and they managed to agree a £8.5m deal with the Bundesliga outfit, with the defender signing a three-year deal with them.

Elvedi underwent his medical with Leeds on Monday and he revealed that Switzerland international Noah Okafor, who joined Leeds last summer, played a key role in convincing him to join the Whites.

Daniel Farke also worked with Elvedi during his time at Gladbach and familiarity with the German tactician’s coaching style also was a big point for the defender to green light the move.

Gladbach needed to fill the gap left by the 29-year-old in their defence and they quickly identified Japanese international Itakura as the ideal replacement for the Leeds new boy.

They went into negotiations with Ajax and now have officially completed the signing of Ikatura.

Itakura is not new to Gladbach and was on the books at the club between 2022 and 2025, with the move marking a return to Borussia-Park.

In the past Ikatura was linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur, with their then boss Ange Postecoglu rating him very highly.

Elvedi featured 364 times for Gladbach in his career and has experience of featuring in Europe’s premier cup competition, the Champions League.

Leeds will begin their campaign against Nottingham Forest at the weekend and all eyes will be on Farke to see whether he will give Elvedi his debut in the opening game of the season.