Goalkeeper Michael Zetterer has become Leeds United’s fifth signing of the summer with his £4.27m (€5m) transfer from Eintracht Frankfurt now formalised.
The 31-year-old has penned a three-year deal at Elland Road. Zetterer arrives as the club’s new back-up goalkeeper behind club record £40m summer recruit James Trafford, with Lucas Perri joining Torino on a season-long loan.
This move contains an option to buy clause, with sources in Italy claiming this stretches to around the £12m mark. The Brazilian holds dual Italian citizenship and so will notably not fill a non-European spot in Torino’s squad.
Torino had set sights on Perri as their number one goalkeeper early in the window.
Leeds were keen on finding a replacement in his wake and it was meanwhile agreed that Perri would recover from his quad injury before flying out to make the medical process smoother.
Once Zetterer was zoned in on, Leeds had to wait until Frankfurt acquired their own replacement – Noah Atobolu.
Atobolu’s arrival at the German club was confirmed on the day Zetterer arrived in the UK. At the same time, Perri was filmed after landing in Turin, a week after his agent flew to Italy.
Unless his buy-out clause is triggered, Perri – who was brought in as number one for £13.9m last summer – is set to return to Leeds next summer.
Zetterer completes the new-look goalkeeper line-up for this season. Trafford is firm number one with Alex Cairns third choice.
Zetterer, who played 29 times for Frankfurt last season, is sacrificing his game time by agreeing to move to Elland Road.
Barring injury or suspension to Trafford, it could be that the German plays just one game this season should Leeds be knocked out of the FA Cup in the thrid round.
Daniel Farke is known for being frank and honest in his conversations with prospective new signings, and so Zetterer will be aware of the situation he is walking into.
Speaking on Friday, the manager explained: “We like to be honest with our signings, and of course if a goalkeeper knows we have just signed James Trafford for a record fee for this club, then it’s also pretty likely that James plays.
“But it’s professional football. It’s always you have to show performances. If you don’t perform, then a different player will will get a chance. Of course, in the goal position, it’s then slightly different – after one poor game, you don’t don’t change that quickly.
“This club is in a way better [position] than a few years ago… and this makes also the conversations a bit easier.”
Leeds have spent around £85m on four players including Trafford, Tarik Muharemovic and Nico Elvedi, while Harry Wilson was a free agent acquisition.
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