Leeds United fail with ambitious €30m move for attacker | OneFootball

Dinamo Zagreb accepted an offer of around €30m for Martin Baturina from Leeds United, but the player rejected the move.

Leeds United had an offer of €30m for Dinamo Zagreb attacking midfielder Martin Baturina accepted, but the player turned down the chance to move to Elland Road.

Daniel Farke is keen for reinforcements in the final third, and the Whites are in a position to spend after Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter went for fees that exceeded £100m collectively.

And, in a surprising twist, Croatian media outlet Sportski Novosti has revealed that Leeds offered around €30m for Baturina, who is seen as one of the top talents in the country.

However, Baturina rejected the move, as he didn’t feel that dropping to the Championship would be the right next step in his career.

Martin Baturina would have been a statement signing for Leeds United

The 21-year-old, who would have been the replacement for Rutter, has already played over 100 times for Dinamo Zagreb, helping them to two league titles and two cup wins in his short career.

As well as that, Baturina has won four caps for his country, and there are high hopes in Croatia that he could be a mainstay for the national team in the years to come.

Therefore, it was always going to be a big ask to convince the player to come to the second division, particularly as there is interest from Fiorentina.

That proved to be the case, and the update claims that the Italian side are also unlikely to sign Baturina as they are not close to matching the fee that Dinamo Zagreb want.

With Baturina helping the team to Champions League qualification this week, it’s stated that he is more likely to stay in Zagreb beyond the summer deadline.

Leeds United need to add quality

Even though this deal didn’t come off, it’s the type of signing they should be looking to make.

Leeds aren’t in a position where they need to beef up the squad, as they do have options in attack. Instead, it’s about trying to replace the star quality that the likes of Summerville and Rutter had.

Obviously, it’s not easy to do that, but Leeds are right to aim high, and if they have to wait for the right player, it’s better to do that than rush in and overpay on someone on the final day.

Who knows, if they’re in a position where promotion looks likely in January, or if they are promoted next summer, maybe they can revisit a move for Baturina who may want to play in the Premier League.

So, it will be interesting to see if any further developments arrive today, and it’s a shame for Leeds that they couldn’t convince Baturina to make the move.