Leeds United are closing in on a deal to bring Maximilian Wober to the Premier League in the January transfer window.

What's the latest?

That's according to a report by Austrian publication Salzburger Nachrichten (via Sport Witness), who claim that an 'agreement will be reached' between Red Bull Salzburg and Victor Orta in negotiations for the versatile defender with a move now seemingly reaching a conclusion.

The report does, however, suggest that the Austrian Bundesliga side will not sell 24-year-old for anything less than €20m (18m) this winter.

"Real leader"

Considering just how impressive Wober has been for Salzburg so far this season, coupled with the defender's ability to operate at both centre and left-back, it is not difficult to understand why Orta would be keen on a deal to add the 24-year-old to Jesse Marsch's current options at the back in January.

Indeed, over his 15 Austrian Bundesliga appearances in the current campaign, the £11m-rated talent - who has primarily been deployed at left-back - has been in sensational attacking form, having already scored one goal, registered two assists and created five big chances, as well as taking an average of 1.1 shots, making 0.7 key passes and completing 0.4 crosses per game.

The £20k-per-week defender has also impressed in metrics more typical of his position, helping his side keep five clean sheets, in addition to making an average of 1.7 tackles, 1.2 interceptions, 2.1 clearances and winning 4.3 duels - at a success rate of 62% - per match.

These returns have seen the player who RB Salzburg sporting director Christoph Freund dubbed a "real leader" average a rather remarkable Sofascore match rating of 7.28.

That not only ranks him as Matthias Jaissle's second-best performer in the league but also as the third-best player in the top flight of Austrian football as a whole so far this term, demonstrating his ability to very much lead from the front.

As such, with left-back having been something of a problem position for Marsch since his arrival at the club last year - with Junior Firpo coming in for heavy criticism since his move from Barcelona back in the summer of 2021 - the addition of a player who can operate on the left flank as easily as he can in the middle will undoubtedly come in very useful for the American manager.

So, it is clear for all to see that the news that Orta is now closing in on an £18m deal for the reported former Liverpool target Wober is certainly fantastic news for all involved with the Whites, not least Marsch himself.