Leeds United have added three players to their squad during the summer transfer window in an attempt to bolster Daniel Farke's playing squad.
Joe Rodon has been snapped up on a permanent deal from Tottenham Hotspur, goalkeeper Alex Cairns has joined to play a back-up role, and central midfielder Joe Rothwell arrived on loan from Bournemouth on Thursday.
One player the Whites have already missed out on a swoop for, however, is centre-forward Daniel Jebbison, who recently signed for Bournemouth.
HITC reported that Leeds had made an offer to sign the young attacker, whose contract with Sheffield United expired, but he opted to join the Cherries, who agreed a compensation fee of £1.5m for his services.
Farke could now land a dream alternative to Jebbison by moving to sign one of the club's reported transfer targets before the end of the window.
Leeds United's interest in RB Salzburg gem
GIVEMESPORT reported last month that the West Yorkshire outfit are one of the teams keeping tabs on RB Salzburg centre-forward Petar Ratkov.
The outlet claimed that the Championship side are tracking his progress with the Austrian team, who signed him for £4m last year, and that Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers are also interested in a possible deal for the young ace.
It added that RB Leizpig are also watching him and that a move within the Red Bull group is 'more likely' in the years to come, although it is unclear as to whether or not that includes Leeds.
Farke must now press ahead with a deal to sign Ratkov ahead of Leipzig and Rangers to land a promising young striker, who could compete for a first-team spot.
Why Petar Ratkov is a dream alternative to Daniel Jebbison
Firstly, the Serbia international, 20, is just over a month younger than Jebbison, 21, and they are both up-and-coming number nines with potential to improve.
This means that Ratkov would come in as a long-term project who Farke could with on the training pitch to help him fulfill his potential, which would also have been the case with the new Bournemouth forward.
Jebbison only made one appearance in all competitions during the 2023/24 campaign as the Blades were relegated from the Premier League but did get some chances to impress in the second tier the previous year.
Appearances
24
16
Goals
5
1
Assists
1
2
Big chances created
5
1
Ground duel success rate
53%
43%
Aerial duel success rate
52%
26%
As you can see in the table above, Ratkov's form in the Bundesliga for Salzburg last season was considerably more impressive than the England youth international's was for Sheffield United in the 2022/23 Championship term.
The 20-year-old sensation, who was described as "menacing" by U23 scout Antonio Mango, also produced 14 goals and five assists in 40 outings for his former club TSC in Serbia during the 2022/23 campaign.
These statistics indicate that Ratkov could be a dream alternative signing to Jebbison as he has already shown far more promise at senior level, as a scorer and creator of goals and as a physical unit at the top end of the pitch with his ability to win duels on the deck and in the air.
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