Leeds United have upped the ante in the £3million raise to sign Spanish playmaker Samu Saiz with a “more tempting offer” than La Liga club Eibar, according to Diario Vasco.
The Spanish publication claim that the Championship club have attempted to blow their rivals out of the water in the race to land Saiz just when he appeared set on joining Eibar.
Spanish publication Marca reported on Monday that Real Madrid academy product Saiz had agreed to join Eibar for £2.6million and would sign a four-year contract by the end of this week.
But Diario Vasco now report that the 26-year-old’s future is unlikely to be at the club who finished 10th in La Liga last season after Leeds lodged a more enticing offer.
It is said that Saiz’s price has escalated quickly in recent days and that the agreement he seemingly had in place to join Eibar from second-tier club Huesca appears to have collapsed.
This is a major boost for Leeds, whose recently appointed director of football Victor Orta has identified Saiz as a player to strengthen the club’s forward ranks and made a late bid to hijack his move to another Spanish club.
Orta and new Elland Road manager Thomas Christiansen are working on refurbishing a United side that finished seventh in last season’s Championship after challenging strongly for promotion for much of the campaign.
Saiz, who can play in the playmaker, right-wing or central striker positions, was unable to make the breakthrough at Spanish giants Real but has carved out a decent career in the lower leagues.
He scored 12 goals and supplied eight assists in 40 league appearances for Huesca in the recently completed season as they finished sixth and in the play-off spots.
Saiz has just a year remaining on his contract and is expected to move to a new club this summer.
Leeds were heavily reliant on Chris Wood for goals last season as the striker topped the Championship charts with 27 league strikes and 30 in all competitions.