Leeds United eye in-demand £10m-rated Stoke City winger as alternative to Norwich City deal

Three Championship teams, including Leeds United, are scouting Stoke City winger Million Manhoef as a backup for Norwich City’s Jonathan Rowe in the event that a deal for him falls through.

The Dutch youth international wide player had a fantastic season with Stoke after joining from Dutch team Vitesse during the January transfer window, and according to TEAMtalk, the Whites are among many second-tier teams considering a move for him.

The Potters are apparently looking to get Manhoef for between £8 million and £10 million in an attempt to get Leeds to make a firm bid, although he is essentially just a backup plan in case their approach to sign the Canaries’ starlet doesn’t work out.

When the window closes later this month, the Whites are looking for Crysencio Summerville’s replacement.

The BBC reports that the winger signed a £25 million contract to join West Ham. His contract had an exit clause that was activated after Leeds lost to Southampton at Wembley in the Championship play-off final in May, failing to earn promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt.

In contrast, Rowe had a breakthrough season in Norfolk last season and was a vital member of the Norwich team that lost to Leeds in the play-off semifinals.

The 21-year-old’s contract has an option for an additional 12 months and expires in 2025, but AS Monaco is reportedly also in the running for him, according to Foot Mercato.

Romano disclosed that although Leeds is still monitoring Rowe’s status, a deal this summer won’t be simple to close.

With just over two weeks left in the market, he thinks this transfer could go right down to the wire.

“Yeah, Leeds are still thinking about it,” Romano stated, according to Give Me Sport.

It’s not an easy one, to be honest, but maybe.

As previously reported by Football Insider, Norwich rejected down a verbal approach from Leeds for £7 million right away, putting up a £15 million asking price.

Marseille was also interested in signing the forward; according to Sky Sports, the Ligue 1 team made an offer of £8 million. However, L’Equipe has subsequently stated that they have dropped out of the running when this offer was turned down.

TEAMtalk reports that Leeds is also thinking about making an attempt to sign Million Manhoef of Stoke City as a possible replacement for Rowe. This comes just over six months after the Dutchman moved from Vitesse in the Eredivisie to the Championship.

In the regular Championship campaign of last year, Rowe made 32 appearances and scored 12 goals (all stats courtesy of Fbref).

The winger demonstrated his value to David Wagner’s team by helping them secure a sixth-place ranking in the standings.

But in the midst of all of this conjecture about his future, he withdrew on the morning of the Canaries’ opening 2-0 loss to Oxford United last weekend. He was not included in the matchday squad.

Before the market closes until January, Norwich has until August 30 to resolve the Rowe situation.

The club should stick to its position that the £15 million asking price, which appears to have been established by Norwich, is more than reasonable.

Adam Idah and Gabriel Sara were lost by Norwich this summer, so losing another offensive option would be detrimental to Johannes Hoff Thorup’s team.

There’s no need to reduce their demands to close a transaction because Rowe is also an academy graduate with great potential.

Making this deal as tough as possible to close makes a lot of sense, as selling to Leeds would weaken their chances of promotion while bolstering their opponents.