Leeds United: Whites closing in on deal for Sloth after agreeing fee
Casper Sloth (right) in action for Denmark against England.
by Phil Hay
Updated on the
22 August
2014
22:35
Published 23/08/2014 00:00
Print this
Sponsored by
Leeds United have opened negotiations with midfielder Casper Sloth after agreeing a fee with his Danish club Aarhus.
Leeds and Sloth’s agent began talking yesterday afternoon with United set on making the 22-year-old their 12th signing of the summer.
The Elland Road club are ready to pay around £600,000 for the Denmark international who has entered the last year of his contract and has been linked with a move away from Aarhus throughout the summer.
French club Evian hold a long-standing interest in Sloth but Leeds have reached an agreement with Aarhus and are attempting to finalise personal terms with the youngster.
Sloth has amassed more than 100 appearances for Aarhus and he made his debut for the club in Denmark’s Superliga as a 17-year-old.
The club were relegated last season, however, and Aarhus are ready to sell him with Sloth less than 12 months away from the end of his deal.
Sloth is one of two midfielders who Leeds are known to be pursuing. Separate talks aimed at bringing 20-year-old Brazilian Adryan to Elland Road will continue next week, with United attempting to persuade Flamengo to cut short his loan at Cagliari and send him to England.
United, meanwhile, look likely to avoid a late bid from Sunderland for talented right-back Sam Byram after Sunderland manager Gus Poyet hinted that Leeds’ asking price had ended his interest.
Southampton failed recently with an offer in over £4m for Byram and quickly moved onto other targets, and Poyet – the former Leeds assistant – said: “He’s a player we like and I’ve known him for a long time.
“Like young English players, sometimes they are a little bit too expensive.â€