'People close to the negotiations...' - Phil Hay lifts lid on Leeds' pursuit of 9x trophy-winner

Leeds United and Victor Orta snatched Rasmus Kristensen from under the noses of Borussia Dortmund, The Athletic’s Phil Hay says. 

Leeds are set to complete the signing of right-back Kristensen in the coming days.

The key components of the deal are agreed, and now all that remains is for the Dane to undertake and pass a medical.

He’s due to become the Whites’ second signing of the summer, following team-mate Brenden Aaronson from Austria to Yorkshire.

In the short-term, Kristensen will compete with Luke Ayling for a starting role at Elland Road and, given that he’s six years younger, he may be viewed as a long-term successor too.

‘It’s been something of a turnaround’, Hay writes, with Dortmund looking poised to land Kristensen ‘until very recently’.

‘People close to the negotiations’ thought a move was at a very advanced stage before Leeds intervened.

They made their ‘pitch’ and muscled their way ‘into the running late on’.

Why might nine-time trophy winner Kristensen choose Leeds over Dortmund? The Bundesliga outfit are set to embark a season of Champions League football, while Leeds only survived in the Premier League by the skin of their teeth.

But perhaps he’s more confident of dislodging Ayling than he would be Thomas Meunier, or maybe he’s desperate to play in the Premier League.

Of course, there is also the possibility that the Whites are offering a bigger boost to his current £14,000-per-week salary.

But above all else, Marsch seems to have been the decisive factor. Kristensen’s relationship with the American after their time together at Salzburg has, according to The Daily Mail, swung the deal in Leeds’ favour, and given the Red Bull model’s penchant for producing top talent, this could be a very beneficial