Leeds United are proactively seeking to bolster their squad and go one better in the Championship under promotion specialist Daniel Farke in the upcoming 2024/25 campaign having being denied of an immediate Premier League return in May’s play-off final defeat to Southampton, with Norwich City’s Gabriel Sara emerging as a reported transfer target.
As per a recent reveal from TEAMtalk, the Whites are pursuing Sara but face stiff competition from Serie A outfit Atalanta, who could amplify their own efforts to acquire the talented Brazilian midfielder after potentially seeing themselves priced out of a move for Celtic’s Matt O’Riley.
The merry-go-round for Sara’s signing could make it tough for Leeds to broker any potential trade, since Atalanta won the UEFA Europa League last season and will compete in the renowned Champions League next season.
Sara himself appears set to leave Carrow Road in the coming weeks after a fantastic individual season in 2023/24, where he stood out as one of the best midfielders in the Championship and was a driving force behind Norwich’s promotion to the play-off semi-finals, where they were defeated 4-0 by Leeds in the second leg.
Gabriel Sara transfer verdict
While there is understandably little question pertaining to Sara’s ability among the Elland Road faithful, Leeds should not get their hopes up about striking an agreement for the 24-year-old due to their status as a Championship side, according to Football League World’s resident Whites fan pundit, Kris Smith.
“Gabriel Sara, for me, is the sort of signing that, for me, essentially confirms promotion for a team like Leeds, but because of that it’s impossible and something we should just forget about,” Kris admitted to Football League World.
“He’s a Premier League player in waiting, we’ve seen that for Norwich since he joined them and that move will come soon enough for him if they can’t get promoted.
“But moving to another side in the EFL, albeit an upgrade in Leeds, is hard to imagine at this stage. I do think as a club we would have the clout to sign Sara if we were to sell a player such as (Willy) Gnonto, (Georginio) Rutter or (Crysencio) Summerville, but the consideration there is that you’d have to sign a replacement for any of those attackers on top of then having the money to bid for Sara.
“That’s just unrealistic, you can’t replace them and have the money for him. Had we got promoted in May, Sara would’ve been the first name on our watch-list, and he should be for a lot of bottom-half teams in the Premier League, but given we’re in the Championship, it’s hard to see as much as he would be perfect for us.”
Gabriel Sara transfer saga will frustrate Leeds United after Premier League promotion failure
Kris argues that if Leeds had been promoted to the Premier League at the end of last season, they would have been in a strong position to sign Sara. This would have given them a significant boost in their chances of survival in the top-flight. Sara is a Premier League player with a promising future, both domestically and internationally.
A genuine all-rounder, Sara’s progressive forward runs in and out of possession culminate in a serious goal threat which yielded 12 league strikes last season, while his creative output is perhaps even better and few at this level can break defensive lines and find space the way he does, as evidenced by a return of 13 assists.
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