Orta can land £60m talent's dream replacement with Leeds bid for £46k-p/w "phenomenon" - opinion

Leeds United are falling behind in the race to land Boubacar Kamara in the summer transfer window.

That’s according to a report by the Daily Mail, who claim that Aston Villa have now entered into negotiations with the Olympique de Marseille defensive midfielder concerning a switch to Villa Park on a free transfer at the end of the current campaign – with this news likely to come as a blow to Victor Orta and the Whites, who were linked with a move for the 22-year-old back in January.

The report goes on to state that Steven Gerrard’s side are also interested in the possibility of signing the likes of Atletico Madrid’s Geoffrey Kondogbia, Brighton & Hove Albion’s Yves Bissouma and Leeds’ own Kalvin Phillips this summer.

Considering the sheer amount of potential it is clear Kamara possesses, in addition to the fact that Phillips has been heavily linked with a move away from Elland Road this summer, the argument that Orta must sanction a swoop for the former France U21 international at the end of the season is an easy one to make.

Indeed, over his 32 Ligue 1 appearances this term, the £22.5m-rated midfielder has been in sensational form for Jorge Sampaoli’s side, scoring one goal and creating three big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 1.3 interceptions, 2.1 tackles, 63.5 passes and winning 4.9 duels – at a success rate of 58% – per game.

These returns have seen the £46k-per-week talent who Rolando dubbed a “phenomenon” average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.14, ranking him as OM’s second-best player in the French top flight.

In comparison, over Phillips’ 17 Premier League fixtures this season, the £60m valued midfielder has registered one assist and created one big chance, in