He's more important than Bijol: Door now opens for Leeds to sign £25m star

It is no secret that Leeds United will be in the market to sign new players in the summer transfer window ahead of the Premier League next season.

Fabrizio Romano gave the Championship champions a 'here we go!' on Saturday when he confirmed that Jaka Bijol has signed his contract to join the club from Udinese.

The Whites are set to pay a fee in the region of £19m to sign the central defender from the Italian side to bolster their options at the heart of the defence.

Bijol started 34 matches in the Serie A for Udinese in the 2024/25 campaign, which means that he is set to arrive at Elland Road with plenty of experience in one of Europe's major leagues.

The Slovenia international will now be due to compete with the likes of Ethan Ampadu, Max Wober, Joe Rodon, and Pascal Struijk for a place in the starting XI next season.

What Jaka Bijol could bring to Leeds

Bijol is a strong defender in the prime years of his career, at the age of 26, and could provide Daniel Farke with an aerially dominant option at the heart of the defence.

The Slovenian colossus was particularly impressive in the air for Udinese in the Serie A, using his height and frame to tussle with opposition strikers to win key defensive duels.

24/25 Serie A Jaka Bijol per 90 Percentile rank vs CBs Aerial duels won 3.31 Top 6% Aerial duel success rate 67.7% Top 17% Interceptions 1.15 Top 41% Clearances 5.53 Top 14% Passes blocked 0.61 Top 42% Stats via FBref

As you can see in the table above, he ranked very highly among central defenders in the Italian top-flight when it came to competing for headers at the back.

His 68% aerial duel success rate was higher than Struijk (62%) and Rodon (60%) managed in the Championship for the Whites, which suggests that he would improve the Leeds defence from an aerial perspective.

Leeds did, however, have the best xGA (29.6) record in the second tier this season, which suggests that their defence was not a major cause for concern, albeit they have still opted to strengthen in that area of the pitch.

Instead, a bigger issue for the Whites to resolve, on paper at least, is finding a new number one goalkeeper, after Illan Meslier was left on the bench for the final seven games of the 2024/25 season.

Farke needs to find a replacement for the French goalkeeper to start between the sticks in the Premier League next term, and the door is seemingly open for them to sign one from a relegated side.

Door open for Leeds to sign Southampton star

Southampton owner Dragan Solak has opened the door to Aaron Ramsdale moving on from Elland Road before the end of the summer transfer window, after the Saints were relegated from the Premier League.

Speaking to the Daily Echo, as relayed by LeedsLive, Solak said: “We unfortunately are not sure that Ramsdale is going to stay, even though he loves the club. He’s a great young man, everybody loves him, but he wants to get his place in the national team and it’s not easy to get there in the Championship."

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LeedsLive reports that signing a new goalkeeper is one of the priorities on the club's transfer agenda, as they go in search of a number one for next season.

Earlier this summer, it was reported that the West Yorkshire outfit have eyed up Ramsdale as a potential target to arrive at Elland Road as Farke's new shot-stopper.

Solak's comments show that the door is open for the £25m England international to sign for Leeds, and it is now down to the club to pursue a deal that could be even more important than the one to sign Bijol.

Why Leeds should sign Aaron Ramsdale

As aforementioned, Leeds enjoyed a strong defensive record in the Championship this season and were not in desperate need of a player like Bijol, as much as he could improve Farke's options at centre-back.

Whereas, the Whites are in desperate need of a new number one to replace Meslier next season because the French dud is, simply, not good enough for the top-flight.

The left-footed flop was dropped by Farke after he made three errors that directly led to goals for the opposition and had a goals prevented of -2.73 in 39 appearances in the Championship.

Post-shot xG minus goals conceded Season Illan Meslier 24/25 (Championship) -0.4 23/24 (Championship) -3.1 22/23 (Premier League) -12.4 21/22 (Premier League) -16.2 20/21 (Premier League) -3.4 Stats via FBref

As you can see in the table above, Meslier was also a liability as a shot-stopper in his three seasons in the Premier League with the Whites in the past, as he let in significantly more goals than he should have, based on the post-shot xG of the shots against his goal.

Ramsdale, however, prevented 0.14 goals in 30 outings in the Premier League and did not make a single error that led to a goal, which shows that he outperformed Meslier whilst playing at a higher level.

The 27-year-old stopper, who was once hailed as "magnificent" by reporter Charles Watts, has 183 appearances in the Premier League in his career to date, which suggests that he could hit the ground running at Elland Road as a player who already knows the division well.

His statistics in the top-flight for the Saints also suggest that he would be a huge upgrade on Meslier, given his more impressive showings as a goalkeeper at a higher level.

That means that he would solve a huge problem for Leeds, given the Frenchman's dismal performances in recent years, and provide Farke with the goalkeeper that he desperately needs.

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Therefore, he would be an even more important signing for Leeds than Bijol because finding a quality goalkeeper is a more pressing matter than replacing Rodon and Struijk, who impressed as a pairing in the Championship.

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