Club Could Meet Demands Of Out-of-favour Leeds United Star
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Celtic can ‘meet the wage expectations’ of Leeds United attacker Joel Piroe, with the Scottish champions having held talks over a deal, according to Sky Sports News.
Piroe signed for Leeds in 2023 from Swansea City and quickly established himself as a potent weapon in Daniel Farke’s attack.
He even finished as the Championship‘s top scorer last term with 19 goals, but that was not enough to guarantee him a starting spot in the Premier League.
Last summer, Leeds opted to bring in two new strikers in the shape of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha.
Calvert-Lewin especially has shone for Leeds and one former Whites star recently talked up just how much better he has made the side.
Piroe has suffered due to their pair impressing and has as a result slipped decisively down the pecking order at Elland Road.
Former Leeds star Aidy White has called Piroe the ‘forgotten man’ and explained, in his view, that the striker is not the outlet that the Whites need given their approach under Farke.
There have been questions over whether Piroe also has the mobility needed, along with the realisation he will likely find game time limited over the course of the season.
Piroe though has found at least one supporter in ex-Leeds man Matthew Kilgallon, with Kilgallon praising the forward recently for his performance against Derby County and urging Farke to keep him.
The striker may well be of the mind that more game time is needed as he will want to make a difference for Suriname in their World Cup qualifier in March, having recently declared for the country.
Celtic could give Piroe the game time he needs and they have held talks to see whether he would be open to heading to Scotland.
The Scottish champions are prepared to ‘meet the wage expectations’ of the striker, who also has interest from elsewhere.
Celtic are said to prefer a loan, with Leeds yet to make a decision on Piroe’s future.
There is also concern that the deal could be further complicated by the fact that the 49ers are the owners of both Leeds, and Celtic’s fierce rivals Rangers.
Leeds have already sanctioned the loan of winger Jack Harrison to Serie A strugglers Fiorentina while bringing in Facundo Buonanotte from Brighton until the end of the season.
Piroe did not get on the pitch on Saturday against Fulham, with Nmecha given the vote to come on when another attacking option was sought.
Nmecha popped up with the injury time winner as it finished 1-0.
Leeds could even look to bring in another attacker this month, something which would push Piroe even further out of the picture.
A loan could suit all parties, but the 49ers will certainly not want to buttress Celtic’s title charge when Rangers are level on points with them.
As such, Celtic could be forced to dig deep and do a permanent deal if they do want to sign Piroe this month, to avoid Rangers’ owners being the subject of a potential fan backlash.
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