The Conrad Harder Leeds United links have hardened in the final week of the window, with MOT Leeds News reporting on Thursday afternoon that the Whites are pressing ahead with a move for the striker and that terms worth a reported £13.7m have been revealed.
It is the clearest sign yet that Daniel Farke’s summer is not finished. Leeds have already reshaped their goalkeeping department, their back line and their midfield, but the centre-forward position has been the one obvious gap in an otherwise busy rebuild — and with less than a week of the window left to run, the club appear to be moving on it.
Conrad Harder Leeds United transfer: what has been reported
MOT Leeds News reported that Leeds are pushing on with the deal, putting a figure of £13.7m on the terms under discussion. No agreement has been confirmed by Leeds at the time of writing, and nothing has been announced by the player’s club, so this should be read as a live pursuit rather than a signing waiting on a medical.
That distinction matters more than usual this week. Deadline-week reporting moves in hours rather than days, and the gap between “terms revealed” and “deal done” has swallowed plenty of names before. What the report does tell supporters is where Leeds are looking: a forward in the low-to-mid teens in millions, rather than a headline-grabbing gamble at the very top of the market.
Contrasting reports and the £25.7m question
Complicating the picture, LeedsAllOver reported late on Thursday evening that contrasting accounts have emerged regarding Leeds United’s pursuit of a £25.7m striker. Whether that is the same target valued differently by different sources, or a separate name entirely, is not settled — and it is worth saying plainly rather than tidying away.
The same outlet also carried a piece suggesting Leeds have let one striker target slip, with a Premier League rival said to be on the brink of a deal. Elsewhere, Italian site The Laziali reported that Lazio are planning to move for a Leeds United target of their own. Three outlets, three angles, one clear theme: Leeds are in the market for a forward, and they are not the only club chasing the profile they want.
None of that is unusual for the closing days of a window. It does, however, explain why the club appear to have kept more than one name live rather than betting everything on a single deal.
Why Leeds need another forward
Look at the squad and the logic writes itself. Farke has Dominic Calvert-Lewin wearing the No.9 and Lukas Nmecha behind him as recognised central strikers, with Noah Okafor, Wilfried Gnonto, Daniel James and Harry Wilson providing the movement and the goals from wide and from off the front.
That is a functional attack. It is not a deep one. Joël Piroe has gone out on loan, Joe Gelhardt joined Hull City for £6.5m, and Facundo Buonanotte’s loan spell ended without an extension. In the space of one summer, Leeds have removed three forward options from the building and replaced them with none. A full Premier League season plus a Carabao Cup run — the Whites are already into the third round after that 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest — is a lot of football to ask of two senior centre-forwards.
There is a competitive argument as well. Leeds have already had one flashpoint involving Calvert-Lewin this season, with pundit Dermot Gallagher offering his verdict on why the striker escaped a red card at the City Ground. Carrying only one alternative in that position is a risk a club with a top-flight season to navigate should not want to take.
It is worth remembering how quickly that thinness can bite. Farke rotated heavily for the cup tie at Forest and still won it, but rotation only works when there are bodies to rotate. Ask a single striker to lead the line in the Premier League, a cup run and the congested December programme and the maths stops adding up somewhere around the turn of the year — usually at the exact moment a club can least afford it.
Igor Paixao, Mudryk and the wider attacking list
The striker hunt is running alongside a separate winger pursuit. Leeds Live reported that Leeds can secure a £13m discount on an Igor Paixao deal with the clock ticking, while the Yorkshire Evening Post’s daily round-up covered a twist in the Paixao situation, a denial over a reported Sunderland agreement, and Leeds’ continued pursuit of Mykhailo Mudryk.
Mudryk is the name that has generated most heat at Elland Road this month. Farke has been asked about it more than once, referring to the “many noises” around the club and insisting Leeds remain open to business, while Chelsea are reported to have rejected a second Leeds bid. Nothing about that saga has been quiet, and nothing about it has been resolved.
What all three strands share is a shape: Leeds want to add to the final third, they are willing to work at several price points, and they appear prepared to let a deal go if the numbers stop making sense. That is a materially different posture from the panic-buying that has undone promoted clubs before.
What the money says
Leeds have not been shy this summer. James Trafford arrived from Manchester City for £45m, Tarik Muharemović cost £34m from Sassuolo, Nico Elvedi came in at £8.5m from Borussia Mönchengladbach, Harry Wilson joined on a free from Fulham and Ditmir Hodja was added from Rabotnicki last week. Set against that, a reported £13.7m for a forward sits squarely within the range the club has been operating in.
The outgoings help too. Pascal Struijk’s £15m move to Brighton, Gelhardt’s £6.5m switch to Hull and the loan exits of Piroe and Sebastiaan Bornauw have all taken weight off the wage bill, and Lucas Perri’s expected departure to Torino would add to that — a deal reported to be close as Leeds line up Michael Zetterer. A club that has sold and loaned this efficiently has earned the right to spend in the last week.
What happens if nothing lands
Leeds would not be in crisis. Calvert-Lewin and Nmecha are Premier League forwards, Ethan Ampadu’s side have started the season with two wins and two clean sheets, and Anton Stach’s free-kick at Forest was a reminder that goals in this team are not going to come exclusively from the No.9. Farke has also built his Leeds sides on defensive structure before, and the early evidence suggests this one is no different.
But a squad that does not add a forward this week is a squad betting on the fitness of two players for nine months. That is the calculation the recruitment department is making right now, and it is why the final days of this window matter more at Elland Road than the opening table would suggest.
Farke wants more before the deadline
The manager has not hidden it. The Yorkshire Evening Post reported Farke’s “have to improve” message to the club’s decision-makers, delivered with less than a week of the window remaining. Leeds have won both of their opening fixtures, sit ninth in the Premier League and have their first home league game of the season to come against Brentford — and their manager is still asking for reinforcements.
That is the right instinct. Leeds finished 14th last season and stayed up; the aim now is to make the second year back in the division more comfortable than the first, and squads get tested in November and February rather than August. Two clean sheets at the City Ground are a fine start, but they are only a start.
Whether the answer is Harder, Paixao, Mudryk, all three or none of them will be known within days. What is already clear is that Leeds intend to use every hour of the window. Follow every development in our Leeds United transfer coverage.
