"Would be a great coup" - Leeds United urged to complete SC Freiburg transfer to replace Rutter | OneFootball

FLW's Leeds United fan pundit is keen on Roland Sallai as a potential replacement for Georginio Rutter.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Leeds United are again monitoring SC Freiburg forward Roland Sallai as they look to bring in attacking reinforcements ahead of the transfer deadline in just over a week's time, after initially being rebuffed by the Bundesliga club.

Naturally, the Whites were going to be on the lookout for new options in the final third after losing influential duo Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter, although their high-profile sales have brought in plenty in the way of crucial funds, so there should be money to spend.

Graham Smyth of The Yorkshire Evening Post has revealed via his newsletter that Sallai has emerged as a target, explaining how the Hungarian international is a player the club likes, and he is firmly among the ‘list’ of players that the recruitment team are drawing up as they look to get a few deals done late on in the window.

The update also revealed that Sallai is entering the final year of his contract with Freiburg, so he is also a realistic option, as they will surely want to cash-in as opposed to losing him on a free transfer in 12 months.

Freiburg are said to be open to selling a forward from their attacking unit, with Sky Sports Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg revealing that they are interested in Fabian Reese, but require an offensive player being moved on first:

The Leeds United reaction to links to Roland Sallai

Clearly, Leeds need to identify proven quality as they’re trying to replace two outstanding individuals in Summerville and Rutter, so it’s not a case of going out and signing anyone.

Farke has dipped into the German market before, both with Leeds and Norwich City, and it is a strategy that has been fruitful, even if Sallai is an ambitious target for Leeds to be looking at. He has proven quality and many Leeds fans will be keen on the idea of someone who should be too good for the division that they are in.

Among those is FLW’s Leeds United fan pundit Kris Smith, who reacted to the latest update and said: "At the moment, we are led to believe that Leeds are eyeing quite ambitious signings.

"It makes sense, as we've lost arguably the two best attacking players in the division in Rutter and Summerville – you can't really lose players of that quality without bringing in someone the opposite way that's just as good.

"It's impossible to do in the Championship, but you have to at least try. Interest in Sallai looks like a really good way of reacting to losing Rutter in attacking midfield. "He is just as both-footed, if not more than Rutter, and he has lots of experience in the top-flight and in international football. "He can also chip in with a good number of goals, which might even be an improvement on Rutter, and he still has the quality of passing we need in attacking midfield. "We need someone playing in the No.10 that is a pass-first sort of midfielder, rather than just relying on someone to drive us up the pitch by beating three players like Rutter did. "We need to be a bit more well-oiled in moving the ball up through the thirds. "I think Sallai dropping down to the Championship would be a bit of a surprise, given that he is more than good enough to be in the Premier League and other top-flight divisions. "As he has shown that quality previously for Freiburg, but we said the same about Ethan Ampadu as well; look at how well he is now doing for Leeds in the Championship.

The potential impact of Roland Sallai at Leeds United

There is no doubt that this would be a top signing for Leeds, and an ambitious one at that, as Sallai has a very good pedigree, and he has spent the past six years featuring regularly in the Bundesliga for Freiburg.

In that sense, to convince him to drop to the Championship would be huge for Leeds, especially if the circumstances have indeed changed with Freiburg now open to a sale.

The 27-year-old has been a key player for the side over the years, which has been a very successful period for Freiburg as they’ve managed to play in Europe in that time under Christian Streich's tutelage, too.

As well as shining in Germany, Sallai is one of the key figures in the national team alongside Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai, and he has directly contributed to 21 goals in 52 caps for Hungary.

Sallai has a well-rounded skill-set for a forward, and can operate in just about any of the attacking positions. Plenty of his career has been spent on the flanks, but he can also play as a striker in a front two or as an attacking midfielder just behind a focal point.

With Largie Ramazani also on his way, Leeds may well see Sallai as a central player, as Smith alludes to. If he is then flanked by both Willy Gnonto and Ramazani in a new-look Leeds attack, following a summer of restructuring after the departures of Summerville and Rutter, then Leeds could have a devastating forward line for the level once again.

They are the sorts of players who are worth the price of a ticket on matchday, and should have Leeds competing for promotion again in 2024/25.