Leeds United are reportedly close to landing Italian club Chievo Verona Weitere striker Caleb Ekuban as Thomas Christiansen continues his aggressive transfer buys. The 23-year-old has had a pretty decent loan season with Albanian side FK Partizani last term and has still found it insufficient to break into the first team.
He is seeking first team action elsewhere and Elland Road seems like the next destination for the Ghanaian international. It was Italian reporter Gianluigi Longari, who revealed that the Yorkshire club is one the verge of sealing the striker’s services. On social media, he posted, “Ekuban the Chievo striker is about to sign with Leeds United.”
Leeds have been quite active in the transfer window so far, with a new manager at the helm and the owner backing him up. They have already signed six players and Ekuban could well be their seventh signing.
Christiansen has wasted no time in understanding Leeds’ gaps in the squad and apart from the club sealing a permanent deal for centre-half Pontus Jansson and Hadi Sacko, the Spaniard has brought in central midfielder Mateusz Klich from Dutch side FC Twente and full-back Vurnon Anita from newly promoted side Newcastle United.
However, one area that would need more strengthening than any, following last season’s over-reliance on a single player, is their striking position. Garry Monk had to rely extremely on the phenomenal Chris Wood, as the other options of Souleymane Doukara and Marcus Antonsson could offer very little. The arrival of Ekuban could pretty much solve it.
If one is as good as his last season, as often said in football, then the 23-year-old is definitely a brilliant buy for Christiansen. The African forward had found the challenge in Albanian league Kategoria Superiore easy, scoring 17 goals and registering five assists in 34 league appearances. Although the player could help Partizani very little in the Europa League qualifying rounds, he was definitely handy in their domestic campaign.
An academy product of Italian side Chievo, the player has spent most of his professional career in the lower Italian league clubs since he broke into the first team. It started with a move to Lega Pro – Girone B-side FC Südtirol – Alto Adige, and followed through the likes of AC Lumezzane of Serie D – B and AC Renate of Lega Pro – Girone A.
While he wasn’t a huge hit in Italy, his last year’s stint with Partizani has caused a stir. A centre-forward by nature, Ekuban has shown his versatility on the wings as well as from the number 10 role, and Christiansen could make great use of such a talent.
