Leeds United are close to securing their first signing of the 2025 summer transfer window. The Whites are now back in the Premier League following promotion success in the 2024/25 campaign, and are now seemingly ready to splash the cash in order to survive, something that has been a struggle in recent seasons for newly-promoted sides.
Highly reputable journalist Fabrizio Romano gave his famous “here we go” tagline to Leeds’ move for Jaka Bijol.
The Slovenian centre-back will join the club for £18.7m from Italian side Udinese, as their first major signing of the summer.
Daniel Farke’s side are now lining up their next signing, who could prove to be an even better addition than their new centre-back.
Leeds' next signing after Bijol
It is certainly an early statement of intent from the Yorkshire side. Bijol is an “immense” player according to Sky Sports’ Dougiue Critchely, so for Leeds to have all but confirmed his move to Elland Road is a strong start to the window.
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Things could be about to get even better for the 2024/25 Championship winners. TEAMtalk are now reporting that Fulham striker Rodrigo Muniz is a target, with Leeds ‘ready to make a fresh push’ for the 24-year-old Brazilian.
However, this will not be an easy deal to do, with the report describing it as ‘difficult’.
The two clubs are some way apart in their valuation of the striker at this stage. Whilst the West Londoners want upwards of £50m, Leeds are hoping to do a deal around the £35m mark. Thus, ‘there remains lots of talking to be done’ in order for this transfer to progress.
Why Muniz would be a good signing
Bringing Muniz to Elland Road could be a huge addition for the Whites this summer. Crucially, he is a Premier League-proven player, with a track record of scoring goals in the English top flight during his two seasons at Craven Cottage.
Last term, the former Flamengo player found the back of the net on eight occasions in 31 appearances, grabbing an assist along the way, too.
He played just 950 minutes, the equivalent of ten full 90-minute games, meaning he was not far off a goal per game on average.
There is no doubt that Bijol is an excellent addition for the Whites. Pundits like Critchley rate him highly, and he helped keep eight clean sheets in 34 games last season for Udinese, captaining them at times, too.
He will certainly help to strengthen at the back at Elland Road, and will add some more leadership to Farke’s squad. That will be invaluable going into what will be a tough campaign in 2025/26, avoiding relegation.
However, perhaps there is a strong case to be made that Muniz will be an even better signing for Leeds, and for one reason. He is a proven Premier League goalscorer, having notched up nine in 2023/24 and, of course, eight last term.
In the last two seasons, all six newly-promoted sides have been relegated, and Leeds have a chance to buck that trend. Well, an experienced top-flight striker will count for lots. They will surely need his goals.
Of those six relegated sides, he was outscored by two Luton Town players in 2023/24, namely Carlton Morris and Elijah Adebayo, who scored 11 and 10, respectively. Last season, Liam Delap, now a Chelsea player, scored 12 goals, and the evergreen Jamie Vardy outscored him by one.
That said, Muniz was not always a regular starter and did actually score considerably more goals per 90 minutes which bodes well should he become Farke’s number one choice.
Liam Delap
Ipswich
12
0.42
Carlton Morris
Luton
11
0.35
Rodrigo Muniz (2023/24)
Fulham
9
0.51
Jamie Vardy
Leicester
9
0.29
Rodrigo Muniz (2024/25)
Fulham
8
0.75
Jacob Bruun Larsen
Burnley
6
0.33
Brereton Diaz/McBurnie
Sheffield United
6
0.25 & 0.42
Paul Onuachu
Southampton
4
0.34
Generally speaking, you need a top striker to regularly score goals and help keep you in the Premier League. Well, Muniz could be the guy for Leeds.
Not only did he score eight times in ten full 90-minute games last term, but his non-penalty expected goals of 0.75 per game as per FBref, was among the best 5% in the top flight.
He has the potential to explode if given a run of games by Farke. He could become a “revelation” in a Leeds shirt, a word football talent scout Jacek Kulig once used to describe him. £50m is a big investment, but it could be worth it if Leeds stay in the top flight.
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