Leeds wanted to sign ‘complete’ player two years ago, he’s now worth £50m

Leeds United may now be regretting following up on their interest in Nottingham Forest star Brennan Johnson.

A report from The Athletic has shared more information about the future of the in-demand Welshman.

The final days of the transfer window are always an exciting time unless one of your star players is attracting interest from elsewhere.

Leeds know all too well how this feels having lost many of their players this summer following their relegation from the Premier League.

They’ve held firm for now on Wilfried Gnonto and Luis Sinisterra but won’t be comfortable until the deadline has passed.

Nottingham Forest are in the same boat right now with Brennan Johnson attracting plenty of interest.

Brentford have had a £40m bid rejected while Ange Postecoglou has made him his top target.

Leeds may be wondering if they made a mistake by not pushing to sign Johnson from Nottm Forest two years ago.

The forward was on their shortlist but ultimately they never made their move.

Now, it looks like he could move on from the City Ground for around £50m in the next few days.

Leeds wanted to sign Johnson from Forest

The report from The Athletic suggests that Leeds were monitoring Johnson and studying his background.

They discovered that he was ‘a serious, dedicated professional, popular in the dressing room, with the work rate to match his ability.’

However, they go on to say that Leeds never ended up making a formal bid for Johnson to try and tempt him away from Forest.

The ‘complete’ forward was instrumental to Nottingham Forest getting promoted from the Championship and then staying in the Premier League.

He’s not a traditional number nine and, understandably, Tottenham want to sign him after losing Harry Kane.

Leeds have struggled for goals in recent seasons with Patrick Bamford struggling with injury and Georginio Rutter failing to hit the ground running.

Johnson would have solved many of those issues and with big clubs circling now, could have raised plenty of cash for the club.

Unfortunately, it’s another case of a missed opportunity with hindsight suggesting he’d have been a brilliant addition.