Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa could sign a dream midfield partner for Kalvin Phillips in Cagliari midfielder Nahitan Nandez.

What's the story?

Reports in recent weeks have suggested that the Whites boss is eyeing up a summer move for the Uruguay international, who he could be available for much lower than his release clause.

Connor Clancy, editor-in-chief at Forza Italian Football, has thrown his backing behind a potential move, saying in an exclusive interview with This Is Futbol: "Anywhere Bielsa wants to play him, he’d do a job. I like him a lot.

"I think he’s only about five foot seven, but you wouldn’t know it if you just watched clips of him, he is a little bit of a machine. He’s so powerful but at the same time, has really, really good ball control."

Imagine him and Kalvin Phillips

With Phillips off to Euro 2020 as a fully-fledged England international and a cornerstone of his club team back at Elland Road, the real test for Bielsa is trying to create the perfect midfield setup around him. In Nandez, he could find exactly that.

The £12m-rated star has a real engine on him and can cover the ground effortlessly, and when you think of the intense pressing game that Bielsa likes to employ at Leeds, the Uruguayan seems absolutely perfect for it.

According to Sofascore, he averaged 1.8 tackles and won an impressive 6.1 duels per game in the Serie A last season, which compared to Phillips, looks very good - the Leeds man averaged 2.6 tackles and won 5.3 duels per match in the Premier League.

His performances for Cagliari even led journalist Mina Rzouki to say: "Cagliari’s Nandez is one of the most underrated players. God he’s been so amazing, especially in Cagliari’s last 3 games. He scored the equaliser against Napoli. Man of the match in the win against Udinese. Against Roma - just wow. Unstoppable."

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Having the tigerish presence of Nandez alongside Phillips could add a real menacing dimension to Leeds' midfield.

Meanwhile, Leeds United have been handed a major transfer boost over this star...