(Football news) Leeds United are close to finalising a deal with Bayern Munich for midfielder Marc Roca for a fee reported around £12m. The Whites have already signed Red Bull Salzburg pair Brenden Aaronson and Rasmus Kristensen. Having brought in a new forward and defender, Leeds boss Jesse Marsch had his eye set to add a central midfielder to his squad and Roca fit the profile. The Spaniard has been with Bayern Munich since 2020, but has rarely featured for the defending champions, making only 24 appearances in his two seasons in Bavaria. Bayern are ready to move the 25-year-old on to Leeds as they have beaten a host of clubs to his signature.

Wolves, West Ham and Eintracht Frankfurt were all interested in Roca, while Villarreal, Sevilla and Real Betis from his native country Spain also kept in touch with Bayern. However, Leeds' offer of around £12m saw him complete the move to Elland Road. Leeds are hoping that they can get a deal for Roca sealed this week as sources suggest that they are in pole position to finalise it. Despite a busy start to the window, Leeds are bracing themselves to lose their star players Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips this summer. The club will need some very good replacements by utilising an estimated £100m that they will get for the pair.

Roca was born in Villafranca and he came through Espanyol’s youth system before breaking into their first team in 2016. Over the next four years he made 121 appearances for Espanyol, contributing three goals and six assists from defensive midfield, before joining Bayern where he was struggling for game time. Jesse Marsch can use him in a midfield pivot of two players and if Kalvin Phillips leaves the club then he can be an ideal replacement  Bayern found him surplus since they signed Ryan Gravenberch from Ajax and ended up paying about €25m for the Netherlands international. Roca’s skill set will certainly add more attacking impetus to the Leeds attack and it also gives them a deep-lying playmaker to dictate the tempo of the game.

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