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Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa is not surprised that the club did not sign Zlatan Ibrahimovic earlier this season, and does expect the Swede to make the move to Elland Road in the summer, a report from Football Insider has claimed.

Speaking earlier this week, Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani claimed that he had spoken to Ibrahimovic about a possible move to the club, before he rejoined AC Milan for a second spell with the Italian giants at the start of this year, and it seems that is not a transfer pursuit Bielsa particularly agreed with.

According to the latest reports, the Argentine was not surprised to hear that the former Barcelona and PSG man had knocked the club's offer, believing there was no chance of completing a deal for the 38-year-old.

It is also thought that Bielsa has written off any chances of Leeds signing the Swede in the summer transfer window, regardless of whether or not his side win promotion to the Premier League.

Leeds are currently top of the Championship table, seven points clear of third-placed Fulham with nine games of the season still to be played at some point.

Ibrahimovic's contract with Milan is set to expire June, and although the club do have the option to extend that deal by a further 12 months, it has recently been claimed that the forward will leave Milan at the end of this season.

Since returning to the San Siro - where he also played for Inter earlier in his career - Ibrahimovic has scored four goals in ten appearances in all competitions for Milan, who are currently seventh in the Serie A standings.

The Verdict

I think there could be some cause for concern from this for those at Leeds.

The fact that Radrizzani was so willing to go ahead with these negotiations, despite Bielsa's apparent scepticism, appears to suggest that there could be something of a difference opinion behind the scenes at the club.

If Leeds are indeed to win promotion to Premier League this season, then that is not something that can be allowed to arise again when the transfer window reopens, since they will have to get their recruitment absolutely right to give them the best possible chance of re-establishing themselves in the top-flight.

It will therefore be interesting to see just how Leeds fare in the transfer window come the end of the campaign, which you feel could now be an indicator of more than just how they will fare next season.

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