Leeds United have now made an approach to sign Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Santiago Bueno, with the defender keen to remain in the Premier League.
Leeds planning to raid already-relegated Wolves for Santiago Bueno
Wolves will be playing Championship football next season, having been the first team to be relegated from the Premier League, whereas Leeds remain in a strong position to avoid the drop, despite West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur making up ground at the weekend.
The Whites took part in the FA Cup semi-final, bowing out in a 1-0 defeat against Chelsea, while West Ham recorded a late 2-1 victory against Everton, and Tottenham picked up their first Premier League win of the year with a 1-0 triumph at Molineux.
Even so, Daniel Farke‘s side are six points clear of the bottom three, with just four games left to play, and they are set to take on already-relegated Burnley at Elland Road this weekend.
As such, Farke can tentatively start making plans for the summer transfer window, and strengthening the defence is on the agenda, despite keeping an impressive four four clean sheets in all competitions since the beginning of March.
That is according to a report from Sport Witness, which reveals Leeds have made contact about a deal for Wolves defender Bueno, with Crystal Palace, West Ham United and Brentford also making approaches to sign the Uruguay international.
The 27-year-old ‘has no plans’ to play in the Championship, and there is no shortage of interest from within the Premier League, but he will still have two years remaining on his contract at the end of the season.
The Montevideo-born defender rakes in £40k-a-week at Molineux, and he is hoping to represent Uruguay at the World Cup, with ex-Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa in charge of the South American side.
Bielsa is an admirer of the defender, as is former Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs, who said: “He’s six foot four inches and aggressive, as you’d expect from a Uruguayan centre back, but he can play too.”
Bueno has 66 Premier League appearances to his name, having spent two-and-a-half seasons with Wolves, but it would perhaps be a little strange for Leeds to raid a club that have been relegated without putting up much of a fight this season.
How Leeds’ run-in compares to Premier League relegation rivals
Four teams are battling it out to avoid finishing in the final relegation spot, with just four games remaining of the Premier League season.
On paper, Farke’s side have some kind fixtures, when compared to their relegation rivals, and having already reached the 40-point mark, they should have enough to avoid the drop.
However, the games against Tottenham and West Ham could be massive if there’s a slip up against Burnley.
Remaining Premier League fixtures
1st game
2nd game
3rd game
4th game
Leeds United
Burnley (h)
Tottenham Hotspur (a)
Brighton (h)
West Ham United (a)
Nottingham Forest
Chelsea (a)
Newcastle United (h)
Man Utd (a)
AFC Bournemouth (h)
West Ham United
Brentford (a)
Arsenal (h)
Newcastle United (a)
Leeds United (h)
Tottenham Hotspur
Aston Villa (a)
Leeds United (h)
Chelsea (a)
Everton (h)