Leeds United And Southampton Register Interest In Prolific Attacker
The 28-year-old has appeared on the radar of a host of teams, including Premier League outfit Brentford, thanks to his electric form for the La Liga club, where he helped Granada return to Spain’s top flight at the first time of asking last season with 23 goals in 38 appearances.
A full Albania international, Uzuni moved to Granada from Hungarian outfit Ferencváros in January 2022, where he also made a major impact with an impressive 36 goals in 67 appearances.
Both Leeds and Southampton are in the market for a new goalscorer as they both hope to make their stay in the Championship a brief one. The Saints in particular have the cash to splash thanks to the big-money departures of Romeo Lavia, Tino Livramento, James Ward-Prowse and Mohammed Salisu this summer.
This could put them in the forefront, with it claimed that Granada are unwilling to sell their star man unless his €25 million release clause is met. Uzuni currently has three years remaining on his existing contract after penning a new four-year deal last summer.
His versatility across the attacking line makes him an even more attractive prospect and he is comfortable operating on both flanks, as well as centrally. He started last weekend’s La Liga opener against Atletico Madrid as part of a front two with Samu Omorodion, who scored Granada’s solitary goal in a 3-1 defeat.
It is also claimed that Turkish giants Galatasaray are amongst the admirers of Uzuni, whilst there is unsurprisingly interest from Saudi Arabia.
There likely isn’t too much behind this story, although he is a player who is more than capable of performing in the Championship. Both clubs will also be thinking long-term and a potential return to the Premier League, meaning that any signings made this summer will be brought in with that in mind.
With both Southampton and Leeds plying their trade in the Championship, they are arguably the least attractive proposition from the linked clubs, with Galatasaray potentially able to offer Champions League football should they be able to navigate through their play-off with Norwegian champions Molde.
There’s also the proposition of a big payday in Saudi Arabia, meaning that the duo will likely watch the situation unfold from afar.
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The American’s time at Elland Road was disrupted by injury problems, with the player making just 26 competitive appearances in total, though he did spend just one full campaign in West Yorkshire.
Adams has been ruled out of action since the middle of March after sustaining a serious hamstring injury.
Not only did that keep him out of action for the remainder of the 2022/23 campaign, but it has also ruled him out of the start of the 2023/24 season with the player failing to appear for the club against Cardiff City, Shrewsbury Town, Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion on Friday night.
More importantly, he missed the latter stages of 2022/23 which meant he was unable to contribute in Leeds’ fight for survival.
In the end, they were unable to secure an escape and finished in 19th place, consigning them to Championship football following an impressive spell in the Premier League.
There was a lot of speculation about Adams’ future at Elland Road but after a move to Chelsea fell through, it looked as though the American was going to stay put in West Yorkshire beyond the summer window, with his injury in mind.
However, the player had a release clause in his contract and AFC Bournemouth thought they had triggered it in time to take the United States international to the Vitality Stadium for a fee believed to be in the region of £20m.
But that clause was time-limited and Leeds believed it had expired, leaving Adams in limbo.
In the end though, with the player wanting to make the move to the south coast, the two sides were able to come to a compromise and agreed a £23m deal.
Despite the fact he’s still recovering from his injury, he has made the switch to the Vitality since then and had a message for the Whites’ supporters.
Posting his goodbye message on X, he stated: “Not an easy goodbye.
“The club, my teammates and the fans have supported me since day 1, and I wish I could’ve given more in the home stretch. Forever grateful for this past year.”
Considering the Wilfried Gnonto saga, Adams could have made himself a hero at Elland Road if he remained committed.
Although the injury was a factor out of his control, Leeds spent time getting him ready again and you just feel it would have been fair for him to have been at the club for one more season to help the Whites get back to the top flight.
If they hadn’t secured promotion, he would have had the right to move on.
It could be argued that he has every right to move on now because not many players would reject a move to the top flight when they’re in the second tier.
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