West Brom appear to be handed a killer blow in their pursuit to sign Ao Tanaka as Leeds United have stepped up their interest in the Fortuna Dusseldorf midfielder.
Bild reported on their website on Sunday (27 August) that Leeds have made an offer for the Japan international
It’s understood that while an agreement is yet to be reached with the German club, the 24-year-old could be moving to England in the coming days.
The report claims that £2.31million was the offer made by Stuttgart which has been turned down but Leeds’ offer is believed to be higher than that.
This will not be good news for the Baggies who also wanted to sign the 24-year-old and make a pretty horrid transfer window look a lot better.
It does not appear that they can afford to pay a multi-million fee to sign the midfielder either.
Rheinische Post reported Friday (28 July, page D4) that West Brom stepped up their interest in signing the Japan international.
It’s also reported that he’s got a £4.2million release clause which reportedly expired in May but it seems like the German side are valuing him close to that fee.
The Telegraph reported on June 20 that West Ham, Fulham and Leicester City were also keen on signing the Japan international.
However, Leeds appear to have drawn first blood and are expected to be favourites ahead of the Baggies to sign him.
At this point, unless there’s fresh Premier League interest, a move to Elland Road appears to be very much on the cards.
