Leeds United have swooped in for Getafe and Nigeria international Christantus Uche as Wolverhampton Wanderers hit a stumbling block in their pursuit of the Getafe forward, TEAMtalk understands.
Wolves looked to have beaten off strong interest from West Ham United, Leeds, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth to land Uche in a £17.5million deal.
Sources have told TEAMtalk that Uche, who played as a centre-forward and in attacking midfield for Getafe last season, wants to head to the Premier League, with the Nigeria international’s expected arrival at Molineux potentially sparking Newcastle to step up their pursuit of Jorgen Strand Larsen.
Wolves see Uche as adding competition rather than replacing Strand Larsen and have already knocked back a £50m (€58m, $67.6m) bid from Newcastle.
Strand Larsen is keen on the move but won’t push for his exit. However, Uche’s impending arrival would have taken the pressure off should Newcastle step up their interest.
LaLiga club Getafe need to sell and will sanction Uche’s exit as they struggle to register a number of their players.
However, Uche, 22, and his representatives have failed to agree on personal terms with the Black Country club.
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The deal is not dead in the water, at this stage, but his availability has now alerted a number of clubs.
Leeds are the club who are now pushing hardest as they look to add to their attack before Monday’s transfer deadline.
Clubs from overseas, including AC Milan, also have an interest in Uche, who scored four goals and gave seven assists in 38 appearances last season.
