Leeds United Star ‘Is Open’ To Elland Road Exit
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Leeds United midfield star Ao Tanaka ‘is open to leaving’ Elland Road in the summer transfer window, amid serious interest from multiple German clubs.
In the summer of 2024, the Yorkshire giants paid around £3m to German club Fortuna Dusseldorf to secure Tanaka on a four-year deal.
The Japan midfielder played a key role as Daniel Farke’s side accumulated 100 points to achieve automatic promotion to the top flight last term.
Tanaka played 45 times across all competitions for the Elland Road outfit in his first campaign in England and impressed with his performances.
One former Leeds manager hailed him last term for keeping things simple and doing the basics right despite the Championship’s high pace.
The 27-year-old defensive midfielder started the current campaign in the Premier League as a key member of the engine room, but his role has become sporadic.
Daniel Farke changed the team’s approach midway through the season and the likes of Ethan Ampadu, Anton Stach and Ilia Gruev have been given priority ahead of the Japanese.
Tanaka’s game time has been very limited in the last two months and with the season reaching its conclusion soon, clubs have been alerted to his situation.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that 2. Bundesliga table-toppers Schalke are keen on him, but their chances of signing him have been dubbed ‘not the best’.
However, Schalke are not the only club keen on the 27-year-old midfield star, who has clubs from the German top-flight keen on him.
According to German journalist Florian Plettenberg, Tanaka is ‘open to leaving Leeds’ when the current campaign ends.
Bundesliga side Freiburg are tracking the Japanese international, but he is more interested in making a move within the Premier League at the moment.
Tanaka’s current deal runs until the summer of 2028 and Leeds are thought to want a fee of around €10m to 12m for the Japanese.
It has been suggested that Breisgau-Brasilianer are not Tanaka’s priority, but he will be focused on trying to help Leeds stay away from the relegation zone, even though they sit 15th in the table.
Tanaka will hope his situation at Elland Road changes by the end of the season, or he could be moving on from the Whites after two seasons with the Yorkshire outfit.
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