Leeds ready formal bid to sign £39m defender

There may well have been an element of surprise at the omission of Daniel Farke from the nominees for the Premier League Manager of the Season award, the German coach defying the doubters to steer Leeds United to survival with room to spare.

He’s not had it easy, far from it, with questions being asked of his position following the Whites’ play-off heartbreak in 2024, before again coming under scrutiny last summer due to his prior top-flight woes.

The feeling was that a tough run of games would prove fatal in late 2025, but Farke changed and adapted, with the shift to a 3-5-2 sparking a real revival at Elland Road.

Having successfully staved off the drop, there is now a platform to build from heading into next season, with work already underway on the transfer front.

Leeds readying bid to sign £39m-rated Diomande alternative

Performances and results were much improved in 2026, although one slight concern will be that Farke’s men ended the campaign with the fifth-worst defensive record in the division, having shipped 56 league goals in total.

That might well be a factor in the club’s pursuit of a new centre-back, with the leading target right now believed to be Sporting CP star, Ousmane Diomande.

Reports late last week even indicated that the Yorkshire side had agreed personal terms with the 22-year-old, edging ever closer to potentially securing a deal.

That being said, Diomande isn’t the only centre-back on the agenda, with Football FanCast sources revealing that Leeds are also readying a formal bid for Real Betis star, Natan.

The suggestion is that Farke will be handed a transfer war chest of around £100m, with priority set to be improvements at centre-forward and in the centre of defence.

In the case of Natan, the LaLiga outfit are said to have already given the ‘green light’ to a sale, although they would be looking for a fee of around €45m (£39m), a figure that would eclipse Leeds’ current record capture.

Why Natan could be even better than Diomande

At just 22, Diomande does appear to be a defender with sky-high potential, with analyst and Como scout Ben Mattinson even suggesting that he is something of a hybrid between Arsenal’s Gabriel and William Saliba.

That is certainly reason for encouragement, although there would still be an element of risk to the deal, not least the Ivorian’s lack of regular game time last season.

In all, while he did spend time at AFCON, issues with injury were the key factor behind his lowly total of just 17 Liga Portugal appearances, having also only been an unused substitute in the Ivory Coast’s recent 1-0 win over Ecuador at the World Cup.

One further concern may also be the fact that he is currently operating outside of Europe’s top five leagues, with Global Football Rankings actually placing the Portuguese top-flight as the eighth best league in the world, one rung below the Championship.

Natan, currently shining in Spain, would have the edge in that regard, with the 25-year-old defender also likely to represent a real coup in his own right, as an impressive, towering centre-back at 6 foot 3.

The left-footer started 32 LaLiga games in 2025/26, helping his side to record eight clean sheets with his dominant performances at the heart of the backline.

In all, he averaged 2.1 tackles and interceptions per game, alongside a stellar average of 6.7 clearances per game, highlighting just how adept he is at defending his own box.

That marks a clear difference with regard to Diomande, with the younger man averaging just 1.4 tackles and interceptions per game, while also averaging just 3.5 clearances.

For context, Natan’s record mirrors nicely that of one of the stars of Farke’s current crop, Jaka Bijol, with the Slovenian giant averaging two tackles and interceptions per game, alongside a rate of 6.4 clearances from his 25 outings.

That likeness bodes well for the impact that Natan could make in a Leeds side who emerged as a real defensive force in the second half of the campaign, with there no sense that the uncapped Brazilian would be a weak link in the back three.

Speaking back in 2021, for instance, talent scout Jacek Kulig suggested that he had “everything to become a quality centre-back“, with his time at Betis really seeing him elevate his level, after a tricky first taste of European football at Napoli.

Perhaps there might be a scenario in which both Natan and Diomande arrive at Elland Road, but if they are to choose between the pair, it is the South American who might represent the superior option.