Ronaldo Vieira leaves Leeds United for Sampdoria as '˜forgotten man' Luke Murphy also exits

The midfielder has joined Sampdoria on a five-year contract after passing a medical and agreeing personal terms on Tuesday.

Sampdoria have not formally confirmed his arrival despite an announcement from Leeds yesterday but Vieira travelled to Italy on Monday to finalise the move and is already back in England after flying with their senior squad for friendlies against Fulham and Watford.

He was missing from the starting line-up for Sampdoria’s meeting with Fulham in Aldershot last night but had permission to train with the club prior to the completion of his transfer and was put through a first session by head coach Marco Giampaolo ahead of the game.

Leeds have sold Vieira for a fee of more than £7m, calling time on his promising spell at Elland Road after two seasons as a first-team player.

Vieira made his debut as an 18-year-old at Preston North End in 2016 and played 71 times for the club, earning himself a place in the England Under-21 squad in the process.

United sourced him from the i2i Academy who Vieira – a native of Guinea-Bissau – joined after moving with his family to England as a youngster. He had previously spent time in Portugal with Benfica.

He received a new four-year contract from Leeds midway through 2017, just 24 hours after owner Andrea Radrizzani took control of the club, but has departed on the back of a disappointing campaign last season.

Luke Murphy has joined the mass exodus from Leeds United by agreeing to terminate the rest of his contract.

Murphy’s departure takes the number of outgoing transfers from Elland Road this summer to 13 after Ronaldo Vieira’s permanent move to Sampdoria was confirmed last night.

Murphy – a forgotten presence at Leeds for the past two seasons – was under contract with the club until next summer but has become a free agent a week before the end of the EFL’s window for permanent transfers.

His last league appearance for United came in May 2016 and he spent most of 2016-17 and 2017-18 terms on loan with Burton Albion in the Championship.

The midfielder, who made 111 appearances for the club, was a high-profile signing in the summer of 2013, joining from Crewe Alexandra for a fee of £1m while GFH were in charge of United, and scored a last-minute winner on his debut in a 2-1 victory over Brighton.