Leeds to miss out on £14.5m transfer over ‘extremely high’ demands

Leeds United’s plans to offload one of their loan players for £14.5million looks set to fail due to their “extremely high” demands.

Max Wober joined Leeds from Red Bull Salzburg in January 2023 for a fee in the region of £11m. Despite showing glimpses of his potential, the centre-back was unable to stop the Whites from getting relegated from the Premier League less than six months later.

With Leeds preparing for life in the Championship, Wober joined the likes of Jack Harrison, Brendan Aaronson, Rasmus Kristensen, and Marc Roca by heading out on loan for the 2023/24 season.

Defender Wober ended up joining Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach on a season-long loan, with the Austria international declaring he was a “warrior” and a “fighter” after making the switch.

Although he has impressed for the German side, the former Sevilla man – whose contract at Elland Road runs until 2027 –  admitted he was none the wiser over his future.

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In April, he said: “I haven’t heard from Gladbach in a while, they will also be squad planning for next season. I’m curious whether anyone from Gladbach will come to me – or from Leeds too. Nobody has talked to me yet.

“Leeds are in the middle of a promotion fight, they have better things to do at the moment than talking to their loan players about their future.”

Fast forward to the present and the 26-year-old has played 27 times for the German side and bagged two goals and three assists along the way.

‘Demands are extremely high’

That has convinced Gladbach to try and sign him permanently but according to the club’s sporting director, Roland Virkus, they and Leeds are a long way apart on Wober’s valuation.

This week, Virkus said: “We are having discussions with everyone involved, of course we would like to keep Max with us. But the demands are extremely high.”

German publication Bild claims Leeds want £14.5m for the 6ft 2in defender, however, Gladbach are reportedly only willing to pay £7.7m for his services.

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Although Virkus admits the club are keen on recruiting Wober, he was part of a backline that had the fourth-worst defence in the Bundesliga, conceding 63 goals in 33 matches.

Moreover, while they currently sit 13th, they are only seven points above the relegation zone with one game of the season remaining.

Leeds United’s conundrum

For Leeds, they may be in a stronger position to negotiate if they secure an immediate return to the Premier League this month.

Daniel Farke’s side, who narrowly missed out on automatic promotion behind Leicester City and Ipswich Town, face Norwich City in the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final on Thursday night.

However, if they fail to go up via the play-offs, Leeds face the very likely possibility of having to sell some of their biggest stars to comply with profit and sustainability rules.

That may also mean their chances of making a profit on Wober become nigh on impossible.

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