Leeds United, West Ham and Brighton 'enquiring' about Bayern Munich's £26m man Hiroki Ito
Leeds United, West Ham United and Brighton & Hove Albion linked with Bayern Munich defender
Leeds United are among the clubs said to be enquiring about the availablity of Bayern Munich defender Hiroki Ito.
The 26-year-old has been on the books of Bayern since 2024, when a reported €30m (£26m) was paid to prise him from Stuttgart.
Injuries have disrupted his time at the Allianz Arena and he has managed just 28 appearances across nearly two seasons with the German giants.
Leeds United ‘enquire’ about Bayern Munich defender
According to SportsBoom, Leeds are among those eyeing Ito with the summer transfer window just around the corner.
Bayern are not believed to have placed Ito on the transfer list, although it has been suggested they will be open to offers.
West Ham United and Brighton & Hove Albion have also been linked with the Japan international, who plays with Leeds midfielder Ao Tanaka on the international stage. The report has claimed an offer in the region of €25m (£21.6m) is likely to be accepted.
A potential replacement
If Ito did sign for Leeds, his profile as a left-footed centre-back would possibly cast doubt over the future of Pascal Struijk.
A raft of clubs, including Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and AFC Bournemouth, have been reported admirers of the long-serving Whites defender.
If Struijk is lured away from Elland Road, or sacrificed in the interest of book-balancing, Ito could prove to be an ideal replacement.
The Júbilo Iwata academy graduate can also play at left-back or as a defensive midfield anchor, meaning he could deputise for the likes of Gabriel Gudmundsson and Ethan Ampadu.
Leeds have four games left to play in the Premier League and once survival is mathematically confirmed, fans can start to dream about summer signings.
Among those to have been linked with the Whites of late include Wolverhampton Wanderers duo Santiago Bueno and Ladislav Krejčí and Union Berlin’s Danilho Doekhi.