(Credit: Imago)

Evan Shaw

Fri 29 May 2026 10:00, UK

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Leeds United have fixed their eyes upon Braga goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek in their search to find a reliable new number one this summer.

Daniel Farke’s side suffered with issues between the posts throughout the campaign, as the boss was once again forced to turn to veteran Karl Darlow after a poor first half of the season from Lucas Perri.

Darlow did a valuable job for the Whites to help keep them in the Premier League, but he is not seen as the long-term solution at Elland Road, with the recruitment team already working on finding the right man to come in.

Hornicek has already been identified as a strong target for the West Yorkshire outfit, after a season that saw him establish himself as one of Liga Portugal’s strongest shot-stoppers.

Leeds’ transfer plans have seen a new goalkeeper become one of their top priorities, and a move for Hornicek could change everything for their hopes heading into next term.

Lukas Hornicek miles ahead of Leeds’ ‘keepers in key metric

Perri’s opening to the 2025-26 campaign was fraught with errors, and while Darlow then did a capable job after Christmas, Farke will need better if he is to take the team to new heights again next term.

Leeds will be hoping to avoid any suggestions of a relegation battle in 2026-27, as they continue their long-term plan to re-establish themselves at the top table of English football.

The 49ers have money to spend this summer, and they are expected to back Farke heavily in the market, after the boss ultimately led them to survival with several games to spare.

With that in mind, they must surely be looking to strike a deal for Hornicek at all costs, given that his goals prevented figures are drastically superior to both Darlow and Perri.

The goals prevented metric essentially denotes whether a gloveman has had a positive or negative impact over the course of a season, and Hornicek ranks over four goals stronger than Darlow in that department, while he is almost six clear of Perri.

Further security in goal may be the final piece of the puzzle to propel them further up the Premier League table, and Hornicek could be a game-changing addition for them in that respect.

Braga are keen to keep the 23-year-old, according to Bola Na Rede, so Leeds may have to work hard to prise him away.

Karl Darlow causing ‘sleepless nights’ for Leeds

Former Aston Villa chief executive Keith Wyness told Football Insider earlier this week that Leeds haven’t given Darlow a vote of confidence after his work in the last few months.

The Scottish businessman suggested that Farke has been having “sleepless nights” over his team’s goalkeeping situation, and how to handle Darlow’s contract, which is becoming an issue at Elland Road.

The Welshman will depart as a free agent this summer if nothing is done to address his situation in the coming weeks, but there is also uncertainty surrounding Perri’s future after some high-profile errors.

Leeds will need to resolve all of that in the first half of the summer, because they could even end up requiring a total revamp of their goalkeeping department, with two new faces coming in.