Leeds United are to face competition from Celtic and Real Betis in their attempts to sign Chelsea’s Mario Pasalic according to a report from Spanish publication ABC Sevilla.
Chelsea signed the 22-year-old midfielder from Croatian club Hajduk Split back in 2014 and it was hoped he could soon break into their first team. But he is yet to make his debut for the Blues and has instead had to cope with loan spells at clubs such as Elche, Monaco and AC Milan. He has performed well in these spells but not enough to get into the Chelsea first team, who are now willing to sell him as he only has one year left on his current deal.
And with Pasalic being seen as a great midfielder for now and not just the future, several teams from across Europe have become interested in him. One of those teams are Leeds United, now being forced to look at other central midfielders as they missed out on bringing former player Jonny Howson back at the club. But they are set to face a lot of competition with the likes of Celtic, Real Betis, Galatasaray and Lazio all looking to sign the talented player.
But it appears that all of these teams are being stumped by the fee they would have to pay to sign Pasalic. Chelsea are expecting to sell him for around €10m, around £8.85m, but the teams who have made bids for him are looking to pay for far less. Betis and Galatasaray are believed to have made offers of €3m, around £2.66m, far less than what Chelsea want.
