Sheffield United, Preston and Leicester join transfer battle for 21-goal Plymouth Argyle star | OneFootball

Three clubs have been linked to a chase for the in-demand Plymouth Argyle striker, who's impressed in League One this season.

Plymouth Argyle's Lorent Tolaj is having a third impressive season in a row in League One, and it is resulting in interest from clubs from slightly up football's food chain.

It's been a season of two halves for the Pilgrims. With new manager Tom Cleverley in charge of the team, they had a disastrous start to the season, falling into the relegation places early on and staying there until as late as the start of the new year.

The club came under pressure to offload Cleverley following their poor start, but the owners kept faith in the head coach and have reaped the rewards for doing so accordingly. They've only lost four League One games since Boxing Day, and following a win against Port Vale in their penultimate game of the season, they could yet seal a play-off place on the final weekend.

One of the key players in this revival has been striker Lorent Tolaj.

The Swiss-Kosovar centre-forward has had one or two injury niggles this season, but he's scored 17 goals in 32 third tier appearances for the Pilgrims this season, with 21 goals notched across all competitions, and this form is now starting to attract the interest of bigger clubs, according to reports.

Lorent Tolaj of interest to Sheffield United, Preston North End and Leicester City

Posting to his Patreon on Sunday morning, journalist Alan Nixon has confirmed that Tolaj is of interest to Sheffield United, Preston North End and Leicester City.

The Blades and Preston will be looking for reinforcements following Championship seasons which have been somewhat underwhelming, while Leicester may have a lot of squad reconstruction work to do following a second successive relegation, with many of their better assets likely to be sold before their League One campaign begins.

Nixon reports that all three clubs have an interest in the in-form striker, who signed for Plymouth from Port Vale in August 2025 for a fee reported to be £1.2 million.

At the time of his arrival at Home Park, the Argyle head coach Tom Cleverley said that he had brought "the right number nine in the building" following his "monumental rise up the footballing pyramid - and he wasn't wrong.

At the same time, the club's Head of Football Operations David Fox added: “Lorent is clearly a goalscorer as his record shows, but he is also much more than that.

"He is technically very good, physical and holds the ball up well. He will suit Tom’s style of play perfectly but also has lots of room for growth and development which is equally as exciting."

Sheffield United, PNE and Leicester join the likes of Norwich City, Stoke, Swansea and Anderlecht in the race for Tolaj's services, with Belgian publication Voetbal Primeur reporting earlier in the month that the striker was in-demand on several fronts.

Lorent Tolaj's career has been on an upward curve since leaving Brighton in 2023

Lorent Tolaj's career has been fuelled by upward momentum since he was released by Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer of 2023.

He'd first joined the Seagulls academy in 2018, but failed to make an appearance in their first team despite spells on loan at Cambridge United, Salford City and Dundee throughout the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.

Upon his release from Brighton, he was picked up by National League club Aldershot Town. He made 44 league appearances for them throughout the 2023-24 season, scoring 19 goals, and this was enough to earn him a move to Port Vale in June 2024. His success continued at Vale Park throughout the 2024-25 season, scoring 14 goals in 37 games as they raced to promotion.

Plymouth Argyle paid a substantial release clause sum to take Tolaj to Home Park, and their calculated gamble has clearly paid off. Having proved himself in the National League and League Two, he's done so again in League One this season and that has in turn provoked interest from two Championship clubs and a third who will be expecting to make a quick return to that division next season.

Those looking at him now will be wondering how high his ceiling is, though Tom Cleverley's ideal situation would be for Tolaj to demonstrate that in the Championship with Plymouth Argyle next season.

A win at bottom club Northampton Town on the final day of the season coupled with Stevenage and Luton dropping points would give them a shot at the play-offs. Should they fall short, there'll be no shortage of clubs looking to give Lorent Tolaj that opportunity next season, regardless.