Leeds United are weighing up a move to sign free agent Cheikhou Kouyate on a short-term deal for the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign.
The Championship side have been in the market for a midfielder after club captain Ethan Ampadu was ruled out for ten weeks with a left knee ligament injury and Ilia Gruev sustained a significant injury to his right knee.
Leeds head coach Daniel Farke admitted this month he is “not a big friend” of signing free agents in October due to their lack of recent first-team training, but he did not rule out transfer activity.
“I think it’s professional to check it (a possible signing), and sometimes out of coincidence or out of a special situation, there could be someone out who really suits the needs in this moment,” Farke said.
34-year-old Kouyate has been a free agent since leaving Nottingham Forest at the end of his contract, having made 36 appearances across two seasons at the City Ground.
In total, he has spent a total of 10 seasons across Premier League clubs having spent four seasons each at West Ham United and Crystal Palace respectively.
Kouyate, who has can play either as a defensive midfielder or a centre-back, moved to English football in 2014 from Anderlecht — where he won seven trophies including four Belgian league titles.
He has also been capped 92 times for Senegal, with whom he won the African Cup of Nations in 2022, with his most recent international appearance coming in March and no being included in a squad since his exit from Forest.
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