ENGLISH Premier League sensations Leeds United have stepped up plans to purchase Nigerian midfielder Ovie Ejaria from Championship side Reading before the close of the current transfer window.
Ejaria, 22, who is on the radar of Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr, is believed to have recently made a switch application to Fifa that would enable him play for Nigeria having featured for the England U20 and U21 teams. A member of the England 2017 U20 World Cup-winning team, Ejaria started his career at Arsenal as a kid, from where he left for Liverpool in 2014.
He joined the Liverpool academy in 2014 and was promoted to the senior team in 2016, making a total of eight appearances for the club in six years, with two of those appearances coming in the Premier League. In January 2019, Ejaria joined Reading on loan and at the end of the 2019/20 was signed by the club on a permanent basis.
In England, the transfer window closes at 11pm tonight but domestic-only transfers can still be made up until October 16. Since returning to the Premier league this season, Leeds United have been sensational, playing some breathtaking football that has made Marcelo’s Bielsa’s side most fans’ second team.
Known affectionately as El Loco, Bielsa gets his team to play a high-pressing, high-energy game that is full of running and wears the opposition down. However, his playmaker, the Spanish wizard Pablo Hernandez, who pulls the strings in midfield, is 35, so Bielsa is looking for a long-term replacement.
Hoping to build a team that can challenge the boy boys like Liverpool and Manchester City, Leeds are looking to sign about seven players before the window closes tonight with Ejaria at the top of the list. Bayern Munich midfielder Michael Cuisance is another midfielder Leeds have their eyes on.
