Leeds United plot move for 27-year-old – It could benefit England and Thomas Tuchel | OneFootball

Reports in Germany suggest that Leeds United are interested in signing Augsburg goalkeeper Finn Dahmen following their promotion.

Following their promotion to the Premier League, Leeds United are looking ahead to the summer and they have now been linked with a move for Augsburg goalkeeper Finn Dahmen.

The form of Illan Meslier has been questioned and criticised throughout the campaign, leading to Daniel Farke eventually dropping the Frenchman at the start of April in favour of Wales international Karl Darlow.

As they seek to strengthen that area of the pitch ahead of their return to the top-flight, Leeds are reportedly looking at signing 27-year-old ‘keeper Dahmen, according to German media outlet BILD via SportsWitness.

BILD have said that Dahmen, a former Germany youth international at pretty much every level bar U16, may be keen on a move to England to catch the eye of England boss Thomas Tuchel with the shot stopper eligible to play for the Three Lions due to having an English mother.

Leeds looking to upgrade on Meslier

Dahmen began his career at Mainz having spent some time in the academy at Eintracht Frankfurt and eventually made his Mainz debut in 2021 but made just 13 appearances for the club before his move to Augsburg in the summer of 2023.

During the 2023/24 campaign, Dahmen became Augsburg’s first-choice goalkeeper, making 31 Bundesliga appearances as they finished 11th in the table, falling away from the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying spots late on due to five successive defeats at the end of the season.

This time around, Augsburg have been sitting in the middle-of-the-table but have aspirations of qualifying for Europe once again with only four teams having conceded fewer goals than the Bavarians.

He started this season with a ligament injury and then spent ten weeks on the bench before a shoulder injury but came back into the eleven after the winter break and has been essential in Augsburg becoming more consistent with nine clean sheets in 16 matches and just ten goals conceded in the other seven games.

Meslier’s penchant for a howler often led to much criticism but it became so much that Farke eventually, following much criticism, took the decision to drop the former France U21 international as Leeds sought to get themselves over the line in terms of automatic promotion.

It is therefore no surprise to see that, with promotion now wrapped up, SportBILD are suggesting the Whites are one of a number of sides interested in a highly-rated goalkeeper.

If BILD are correct with their assertion that Dahmen may be keen on the move due to international recognition with England then that will be of interest to Tuchel with few English goalkeepers actually plying their trade as a number one in the Premier League. Dahmen has previously spoken of his connection to both countries.

Early summer uncertainty for Leeds

Dahmen’s link to Leeds and the uncertainty surrounding the future of Meslier is not the only thing up in the air at Elland Road with a fair bit reportedly going on behind the scenes.

It has already been reported that Leeds may still sack manager Farke despite their promotion and that they have lined up a list of potential replacements such as Davide Ancelotti, Roger Schmidt and Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

As well as that, West Ham United have been linked with moves for Ethan Ampadu and Mateo Joseph, whilst the Yorkshire giants reportedly hold an interest in Tomas Soucek of the Irons as well as Sporting CP’s Hidemasa Morita, Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Julian Weigl and Sean Longstaff of Newcastle United.

The uncertainty and questions didn’t affect Farke or his Leeds side on Monday as they romped to a 4-0 demolition of Bristol City at Elland Road thanks to goals from Ao Tanaka, Willy Gnonto and a brace from Largie Ramazani.

Leeds can win the Championship title, which would be Farke’s third second division title in England after two with Norwich City, on the final day of the season this weekend if they match or better Burnley’s result at home to Millwall due to their far superior goal difference.