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Leeds United have their eyes on a new centre-back signing and one who could come in to replace Pascal Struijk.

Leeds return to top of Championship with win over Middlesbrough

The Whites and Daniel Farke managed to get back to winning ways in the week after a run of just one victory in their previous six Championship games with a 1-0 triumph over Middlesbrough.

Dan James’ early goal proved to be the winner, although Ao Tanaka and Patrick Bamford both had goals wrongly ruled out for offside.

Leeds’ win, coupled with both Burnley and Sheffield United dropping points, ensured that they’d return to the top of the table with just five games remaining.

Talking after the game, Farke said: “I’m proud of my boys. It was a tough game, overall an excellent advert for the Championship. Both sides had periods, but in the end we found a way to win this game and it was crucial today to return to our clean sheet behaviour.

“We had to dig in, had to deal with a couple of injuries and had one day less in between games, and Middlesbrough were in red-hot form. “We had to dig in and show steel and togetherness and spirit to bring this over the line in a hard-fought game and a well-deserved win.”

Leeds (85 pts)

Sheffield United (83 pts)

Burnley (85 pts)

Preston North End (h)

Plymouth Argyle (a)

Norwich City (h)

Oxford United (a)

Cardiff City (h)

Watford (a)

Stoke City (h)

Burnley (a)

Sheffield United (h)

Bristol City (h)

Stoke City (a)

QPR (a)

Plymouth Argyle (a)

Blackburn Rovers (h)

Millwall (h)

Leeds won at the Riverside without Pascal Struijk, with the left-footed centre-back suffering an injury against Luton Town. There is a concern that Struijk may have a fracture in his foot and could be out for the season, which resulted in Ethan Ampadu filling in at centre-back.

Now, a transfer target has emerged on the Elland Road radar who could prove to be a replacement for Struijk.

Leeds keen on signing Modibo Sagnan

According to reports in France, relayed by Sport Witness, Leeds and the 49ers are interested in signing Montpellier HSC centre-back Modibo Sagnan.

Like Struijk, Sagnan is a left-footed defender and could be on the move this summer with Montpellier bottom of Ligue 1. Leeds could take advantage of their potential relegation with a move for the Mali international.

Sagnan, 25, can also turn out as a left-back as well as a centre-back and has played for the likes of Real Sociedad, Lens and FC Utrecht before joining Montpellier.

Over the last 12 months, Sagnan has ranked in the top 10 percentiles when compared to centre-backs in the big five European leagues for both goals and take ons – he has scored five times in 39 games for his current employers.

An amazing Solomon alternative: EFL star wants to sign for Leeds this year

Leeds United could be about to land an attacking star to improve their ranks next season.

ByEthan Lamb Apr 8, 2025

Struijk also has an eye for goal with Leeds, but by the looks of things, should Leeds win promotion, a move for Sagnan could be one to watch.

The Kings XI opener’s unbeaten 99 followed an old-fashioned ODI template, featuring a distinct middle-overs slowdown

Karthik Krishnaswamy13-Apr-2019Chris Gayle has hit six centuries in the IPL. The slowest of them, in terms of strike rate, was his unbeaten 104 off 63 balls last year, for Kings XI Punjab against Sunrisers Hyderabad.Today, at the same ground, he finished one run short of scoring an even slower hundred. He was far from his most fluent during his unbeaten 99 off 64, and his hitting – which on his best days isn’t fettered by who is bowling or at what stage of the game – was extremely selective. The innings followed an old-fashioned ODI template, featuring a distinct middle-overs slowdown.By the end of the Powerplay, thanks largely to a 24-run sixth over from Mohammed Siraj, Gayle had run away to 48 off 23 balls, with six fours and three sixes. From there until the end of the 16th over, he hit only one more boundary – a leg glance off Yuzvendra Chahal – while adding 20 off 27 balls to his score.A notable feature of his batting in this phase was his caution against the spinners, Chahal and Moeen Ali, whom he was happy to push for strolled singles to the deep fielders. Apart from that one four off Chahal, all his runs against spin came in singles (11) and a solitary two.ESPNcricinfo LtdIn the last four overs, he picked up the pace again, even though he didn’t look at his most fluent – Mayank Agarwal later told the commentators that the pitch slowed down considerably through the innings. In the last four overs, Gayle hit 31 off 14 balls, with two sixes and three fours.Overall, the bulk of Gayle’s runs came off two bowlers, Siraj and Umesh Yadav, off whom he hit 70 off 30 balls. Of the other three Royal Challengers Bangalore bowlers, he only made 29 off 34.