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Friendly with Hannover taught us why Daniel Farke wants to sign for Leeds United for £3.4m – See

Friendly with Hannover taught us why Daniel Farke wants to sign for Leeds United for £3.4m – See

Soccer Football – Europa Conference League – Group D – FC Köln v 1. FC Slovacko – RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany – September 15, 2022 FC Köln’s Dejan Ljubicic celebrates scoring his fourth goal REUTERS/Thilo Schmuelgen

Leeds United’s opening bid of £3.4m for FC Koln midfielder Dejan Ljubicic has been rejected, but the Whites intend to press on with another offer.

Daniel Farke’s side are working on their pre-season camp in Germany right now as some fresh faces get to grips with the new system.

More signings are needed before the window closes in just over a month, however, given the need for depth at a few positions.

Leeds see bid rejected for FC Koln’s Dejan Ljubicic

A report from German publication Bild claimed this week that Leeds have submitted a bid to FC Koln for their midfielder Dejan Ljubicic.

The offer amounted to around €4m (£3.4m), which was rejected by the 2.Bundesliga club, who recently beat Swansea City in a pre-season friendly.

Ljubicic, 26, has reportedly told the club he has no intention of signing a contract extension, now in the final 12 months of his deal.

Leeds are said to be looking to make another bid for the Austria international after having their first rejected.

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Leeds’ pre-season 4-1 win over Hannover proves the need to press the midfield unit

Pre-season for Leeds this summer is mainly about minor tweaks to Farke’s system, who managed 90 points last term, making improvements where necessary to turn Leeds into title winners.

A standout from the opening 45 minutes of Wednesday’s friendly against Hannover was the aggressiveness with which Leeds pressed, resulting in two goals and many more openings on top.

Ilia Gruev was instrumental in this, playing a much higher role than last season, getting a goal in the process, while recovering possession 30 yards from goal, he played a one-two with Brenden Aaronson and rounded the keeper. to keep at home:

Images via LUTV full match replay

Fast forward 20 minutes and the Bulgarian wins the ball again to create a chance for Joel Piroe, which the Dutchman fires away:

In Ljubicic, Leeds are looking to sign someone equally aggressive in pressing the opposition high up the pitch with high energy, but someone more skilled in those positions than we’ve seen from Gruev in 12 months as a deep-lying midfielder.

Having that big press is effective when you have midfielders capable of punishing the errors they force, and Ljubicic fits into that category of player for Farke.

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