Leeds United have held talks regarding a summer deal to bring Newcastle United star Karl Darlow to the Championship, according to reports.
Where is Karl Darlow now?
Darlow is a goalkeeper who has played his football in the northeast for nine years after joining from Nottingham Forest back in 2014, but during the second-half of last season, he was sent out on loan to Hull City in a bid to receive some regular game time, where he ended up making 12 starts in the second tier.
The Northampton-born shot-stopper still has another two years to run on his contract with Eddie Howe’s side, but practically being the last choice in the manager’s pecking order with Nick Pope, Martin Dubravka and potentially also Loris Karius ahead of him, there’s a chance that both parties could be looking for a sale during the ongoing window.
Back in June, Football League World reported that the Whites and the 49ers have been long-term admirers of the 32-year-old but made it clear that he wasn’t their number one target between the sticks, though if the following update is to be believed, it sounds as if they have since had a change of heart.
Are Leeds signing Darlow?
According to Sky Sports, Leeds are "battling it out" with Bournemouth to sign Darlow ahead of the 2023/24 campaign. Newcastle are yet to receive an "official bid" for the goalkeeper, but it's reported that "talks have taken place" with both of the interested parties and that a permanent switch is "likely to be agreed" with either the Cherries or the outfit at Elland Road.
Middlesbrough were also "keen" to strike a deal, though they have pulled out of the race because they "can't match the wages on offer" from their competitors.
Where would Darlow fit in at Elland Road?
Leeds will know that they could lose Illan Meslier this summer with the goalkeeper having publicly admitted that he would be open to a move to Chelsea should they pursue him, so the hierarchy may need to enter the market to find a replacement, and having been hailed “sublime” by journalist Josh Bunting in the past, Darlow could be the perfect successor.
The Unique Sports Group client, who pockets £30k-per-week, kept five clean sheets in 12 Championship appearances for Hull, with this impressive form in such a short amount of time, also seeing him receive a man-of-the-match award at the MKM Stadium.
The 6 foot 2 colossus additionally made 34 saves from 48 shots on target against, giving him a success rate of 75%, which was considerably higher than Meslier who recorded just 59.5%, therefore showing how much of an upgrade he’d be on the current first-choice in LS11.
Finally, Darlow has an extremely strong range of passing with a 99.5% completion rate for short attempts and 97.2% for medium-length passes, so even though he’s slightly older than is ideal considering the club should really be aiming to land a younger more long-term recruit, he is a suitable target for the board to pursue this summer.