Phil Hay: Leeds United could complete major coup to sign Nadiem Amiri

Leeds United have a “strong interest” in signing Bayer Leverkusen ace Nadiem Amiri, according to The Athletic’s Phil Hay.

Writing on The Athletic website on Friday morning (25 August), Hay reported that Amiri, 25, might be a “significant addition” to Daniel Farke’s squad to play in the No 10 role behind Joel Piroe.

Leeds completed the signing of Piroe from Swansea on Thursday night (24 August) and Hay now says that a move for Germany midfielder Amiri “would cut a coup for a side in the English Championship”.

Where is Nadiem Amiri from?

Amiri is a fully-fledged Germany international with five caps for his national team.

His last appearance for the European giants came in a 1-0 win over the Czech Republic in November 2020 and all of his caps saw him come off the bench as a substitute.

The Ludwigshafen-born ace, who is of Afghan descent, joined Bayer Leverkusen from Hoffenheim in 2019.

He’d spent seven years on the books at Hoffenheim after spending his youth career with the likes of Ludwigshafener, Kaiserslautern and Waldhof Mannheim.

Last season, Amiri made 36 appearances in all competitions for Bayer Leverkusen, scoring four goals and supplying two assists in the process.

He’s naturally an attack-minded midfielder but he can also play out wide or even up front.

Hay describes him as a No 10 and that could really help a Leeds side that’s currently devoid of options in the middle of the park unless they’re a bit more defensive-minded.

Amiri played five times and assisted one goal in the Champions League last season – so it’s not hard to see why the former Yorkshire Evening Post journalist is suggesting this could be a coup for the Elland Road giants.