Leeds at the table to sign their new Rodrigo in late club-record move

Leeds United head coach Daniel Farke refused to rule out a late foray into the transfer market to bolster his squad before the deadline passes on Monday.

The German boss watched his side lose 4-0 to league leaders Arsenal at Elland Road in the Premier League on Saturday, and may want to add some more quality to the group before the end of the window.

Facundo Buonanotte, who joined on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion, has been their only signing of the window so far, and came off the bench in the last two league matches.

The Argentine attacking midfielder only played eight games during the first half of the 2025/26 campaign on loan at Chelsea, so it may take him some time to get back into the flow of playing regular football before he is ready to start week-in-week-out.

Leeds at the table to sign new striker

The Whites are seemingly looking to bring in another number nine option to compete with Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha, as it was reported that they made contact over a possible deal for former Aston Villa marksman Jhon Duran.

They have also been linked with an interest in Wolfsburg attacker Mohamed Amoura, who has scored seven goals in the Bundesliga this season, but it remains to be seen if either of those deals could be done in the next 24 hours or so.

Whilst the Whites have been looking at Duran and Amoura as possible signings from further afield, they are also looking at a star who plays much closer to home.

According to Sky Sports, Leeds United were still at the table this weekend to clinch a last-gasp deal to sign Wolverhampton Wanderers centre-forward Jorgen Strand Larsen.

The report claims that Crystal Palace are also still trying to sign the Norway international. They had been close to sealing a £50m deal for the striker before they hit a stumbling block in talks with Wolves, which opened up the race for his signature.

It adds that Leeds had been willing to pay up to £40m to land the former Celta Vigo talent on a permanent deal before the deadline on Monday, but that does not look like it'll be enough to get a deal across the line.

Indeed, reporter Ben Jacobs notes that Crystal Palace are in pole position to sign the striker after having a bid of £43m plus £5m in add-ons accepted on Sunday afternoon.

Should Leeds decide to match that offer, then it would smash their existing transfer record. Unfortunately, it looks like time is running out for Leeds in their bid to sign a new source of goals.

Why Strand Larsen has shades of Rodrigo

When Leeds were promoted to the Premier League in 2020, Victor Orta and Marcelo Bielsa splashed the cash to sign Spanish striker Rodrigo for £26m from Valencia, which was a club-record deal at the time.

The Spain international had only scored four goals in LaLiga in the 2019/20 campaign, but had produced 15 goals and ten assists in all competitions in the previous season.

Rodrigo went on to score 28 goals in 97 appearances for Leeds. He did not quite live up to the mammoth fee that he was signed for, but the versatile attacker was also not a total flop.

This potential deal for Strand Larsen has shades of Rodrigo about it for several reasons. At a fee of £40m, he would be a club-record signing for the Whites in the same way that Rodrigo was, bringing an added pressure to his spell at Elland Road.

They would also be signing him, presumably, based on his form in previous seasons rather than the current campaign, as was also the case when they signed the Spaniard off the back of a four-goal season in LaLiga.

Strand Larsen scored 14 goals in the Premier League during his debut season in the division with Wolves last term, but his form has fallen off this year.

As you can see in the table above, the Norwegian giant has been incredibly wasteful in front of goal and offered very little to his side in the top-flight, which is a cause for concern.

His dreadful form this season suggests that a club-record fee of £40m could be a bit of an overpay for the striker, as £26m was for Rodrigo after his four-goal campaign with Valencia, but his goal return in the 2024/25 campaign means that the potential is there for him to be a regular goalscorer for Leeds.

As it was with Rodrigo, signing Strand Larsen for £40m would be a big risk for the Whites, and they will be hoping that it goes a little better than it did for the Spaniard if they can clinch a last-gasp deal for the Wolves star.

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