Leeds bid confirmed for near goal-a-game international ace, he would be sensational signing
COMMENT By Richard Parks
Andrea Radrizzani has revealed there will be a shift in Leeds United’s transfer policy in the summer window, with a greater emphasis on domestic rather than Continental talent.
But Leeds are certainly barking up the right tree with their interest in prolific Czech striker Michael Krmencik.
Viktoria Plzen chief executive Adolf Sadek told Czech newspaper Dnes that the Yorkshire giants were among the clubs in January who lodged formal bids for Krmencik, 24, that were all rebuffed to appease manager Pavel Vrba.
“In the summer, Slavia came in, Leeds in the winter, then Montpellier, Bordeaux, eventually Newcastle,” said Sadek to Dnes. “There were extraordinary offers.
“In winter there was no figure to convince us. I promised the coach.”
Sadek does not divulge the figures, but Dnes report that the bids went as high as £12million.
Those are serious numbers, and more than double what Leeds have paid for any player since their Premier League glory days a decade-and-a-half ago.
But fans would not be so critical of the club’s global bargain hunting were the players of they signed in the last two windows under Radrizzani and Victor Orta’s watch not so underwhelming.
For every Samuel Saiz, a genuine gem who would walk into any side in the Championship, there have been far too many of the ilk of Mateusz Klich, Pawel Cibicki and Jay-Roy Grot, who are nowhere near the level required for a team competing for promotion to the English top flight.
Krmencik is a completely different beast.
Aged 24 and approaching his peak, he is a serious talent with numbers that demand attention.
Krmencik has been in prolific form this season for Plzen, who top the Czech league by a mammoth 14 points ahead of second-placed Slavia Prague.
The front man has scored 16 goals and supplied seven assists from 20 matches at a virtual goal-a-game rate.
He is not just a domestic monster, he has also ripped it up at international level, with six goals in 11 games for the Czech Republic.
Tall, physical, mobile and an increasingly ruthless finisher able to score all types of goals, he is the kind of player, not just forward, that United are crying out for.
Leeds have focused on unearthing gems from the cheaper overseas market in the last two windows, and Krmencik would be Orta’s best signing yet if he could push a deal over the line.
In other Leeds United news, Andrea Radrizzani has hit back at criticism of the club’s transfer policy and hailed two Victor Orta signings who are gems.
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